


Forever has no end but has a start

by MenoMonyFalls



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-02
Updated: 2015-06-17
Packaged: 2018-02-19 16:15:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 90,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2394788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MenoMonyFalls/pseuds/MenoMonyFalls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Battle of Canary Wharf, Rose is stuck in a parallel world, desperate to find a way back. It comes in a way she would never have expected, a way that might just change her life forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

When Jackie finally manages to tear her away from the wall in that awful white room, she has been silent for a while, her tears run dry. Her throat is hoarse from shouting in anger and desperation, her hands throbbing from hitting the wall, but all she really feels is numb, an empty shell of herself. She follows them outside without much resistance, mechanically: out of the room, down a corridor, one feet in front of the other all the way to an elevator. If she could muster up the energy, she would be surprised at being able to function with a heart torn in pieces.

They bring her to Pete’s mansion, put her in a bed, whisper soothing things she can’t really hear. There is only silence screaming at her without the gentle hum of the TARDIS, and she tries to remember the last time she has gone to bed without its presence in her head. Velma II, she decides, where they had been forced to stay overnight, but then there had been his voice talking softly as she drifted off to sleep, a voice she would never hear again. Arms that would never hug her again, a hand forever empty, smiles never shared, and suddenly she finds tears to cry again.

The first few days are a blur. She doesn’t want to talk, doesn’t have the will to move. They force her to eat, to take her a shower. She changes back into the clothes she was wearing that day because she doesn’t want to admit to moving on, even in that small way. The walls are closed, she is trapped, and do people really expect her to carry on like her life hasn’t just ended?

Two weeks after the worst day of her life, something snaps her out of it.

“…and Pete said it’s all taken care of, no one should be able to crack that story, is what he said. Sure people will wonder, an’ we won’t be able to stop the tabloids spreadin’ rumors and all, but at least now you have an identity. You’ll have papers and a bank account, you’ll be able to start workin’ and everything…”

Jackie has forced her down to the kitchen in front of a cup of tea, and proceeds to tell her the all-important news. Pete has forged an identity for her as their long-lost daughter, kidnapped at an early age and only recently found again. For Jackie, everything had been so much simpler. They had simply pretended that she had survived the Cybermen attack, but had suffered temporary memory loss due to the traumatic shock. People would no doubt talk about how much she’d changed, but no one would challenge her claim. She was the same person, after all, the one and only Jackie Tyler. But Rose had never existed in this world. This universe had never wanted a Rose Tyler, except in the diminutive form of a dog, and for her this is just an irrefutable proof that she shouldn’t be here, that she has no place in this world.

“Rose, are you even listening to me?”

“Yes mum, that’s great. I exist again.” She takes a shaky breath, lets it go quickly. This is another step towards moving on, and she hates everything about it. “So what do you want me to now? Work in a shop again?”

“Don’t take that tone with me. Nothin’ wrong with working in a shop. But no, Pete thought you could start working for Torchwood. Even I have to admit, if there’s one thing those years with _him_ gave you, at least, it’s a knowledge of aliens.”

Rose huffs out a breath in pain and closes her eyes, hands clenching at her side. Torchwood. As if she would work for the thing that destroyed her life. Without even considering the Torchwood in her original universe (she wouldn’t, couldn’t, think about that white room again), if it hadn’t been for _this_ Torchwood’s inability to deal with the Cybermen on their own, if they hadn’t invented those damn dimension hoppers, they would never have come to her universe, and she wouldn’t have been brought to -

The dimension hoppers.

When they had come here by accident, before, the Doctor had said that travel between parallel universes was impossible. But he had been wrong. That much was obvious. Torchwood had done it once, maybe it could be done again…

She could sit around and mope all day, and spend the rest of her life being miserable, or she could try her hardest to get back to him. And Torchwood is probably her best chance of doing just that.

Steeling her resolve, she looks back at Jackie with a purpose in her eyes that has been absent ever since she was dragged into this universe.

“Alright mum. Call Pete. You can tell him I’ll work for Torchwood.”

\--------------------

The dimension hoppers had been entirely dependent on the walls between the universes being open, and would not work anymore, but Rose doesn’t despair. After all, she tells herself, there’s bound to be other solutions. Now that she’s found her determination, there’s no way she’ll let herself give up. She won’t accept his statement of ‘impossible’. If it had really been impossible, she wouldn’t be here in the first place. And, she argues with herself, he probably wouldn’t just give up, either. She’s sure that he’s working too, on his side of the universe, trying to find a way to get her back. It is only a matter of who, between the two of them, got there first.

At Torchwood, no one seems particularly interested in developing dimensional travel anymore, now that the threat has passed. Even Pete is reticent to use his influence over it, thinking his not-daughter’s despair at being separated with the Doctor would pass. Rose knows otherwise. The last years of her life changed her, defined her in ways she would never have believed possible, and she doesn’t want to have to redefine herself without him. If people aren’t willing to help her, she will have to do it alone.

She throws herself in her studies, aiming to finish her A-levels while working part-time for Torchwood. The rest of her time is spent in the Torchwood archives, poring over mission reports and descriptions of alien technology encountered or salvaged. Now that her slum is over, she throws herself into action with all her might. Jackie is delighted, thinking that Rose is on the right track to recovery, but she doesn’t know it is all in the hopes of finding a way to leave. She is going to figure out a way to go back to him.

She has been here six months when she wakes up in the middle of the night, hearing his voice.

\--------------------

They all expect her to crumble to pieces again, she knows. They keep glancing at her on the ride back to London in a way they think is subtle, waiting another meltdown. It only steels her resolve. _You can’t_ , he answered, when she asked if she could ever see him again, and just that thought makes her fists tighten, her jaw clench. _I_ _can’t, really? Well, tough_ , she thinks. _I’ll hear the rest of that sentence if it’s the last thing I do_.

She loses herself in her work with even more ardor than before. She enrolls part-time at a university, takes up engineering and physics courses. She moves out of her parents’ house to stop her mum complaining about her working too much and rents a flat close to Torchwood that she hardly ever spends time in. It isn’t home. Nowhere but the TARDIS, with _him_ , could ever really be home for her anymore.

God, she _is_ going to find a way to get back.

_She has to_.

\--------------------

Reports have been coming in of strange noises and flashes of light occurring around an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of London. With no other information to go on, Torchwood has sent one of their best teams to investigate. Mickey Smith, Ben Evans, Jake Simmonds and Rose Tyler are under order to assess the situation, take no unnecessary risks, and report back. After a brief assessment of the area surrounding the building revealing nothing out of the ordinary, they are now crouched in a back alley next to the warehouse, trying to figure out the best plan of action.

“The building’s too large, we’ll have to split up, we’ll cover more ground that way,” says Jake, inspecting the area in front of him. “Would take too long otherwise.” He glances at his teammates to see them nodding their heads, giving their assent.

“Yeah, you’re right,” agrees Ben. “Let’s each take one side. I got this one. Jake, go right. Mickey, Rose, circle left.”

“OK, that’s a plan. Keep radio silence unless you find something. Be careful,” Jake adds, clapping Mickey on the back before making off towards the side of the building, half crouching as he runs to another alley. Rose and Mickey nod to Ben briefly before moving off in the opposite direction.

They progress slowly and silently, staying hidden as much as possible. They warily scan the area as they go, attentive to any suspicious sound or sign of movement. So far, nothing. The place feels empty and desolate, broken windows and graffitied walls testament of its abandonment to time. They stop close to a door that is half hanging on rusted hinges.

“Right, that’s my way in,” says Rose quietly, nodding in its direction.

“Yeah, alright,” replies Mickey. “I’ll keep going round to the other side.”

She nods and starts moving towards the door when he grabs her arm, making her look at him again.

“Rose, don’t do anything stupid.”

“Yeah, sure,” she answers quickly. When Mickey continues to frown at her, she rolls her eyes. “Mickey, I’ll be careful. Now go.”

With one last look at her through narrowed eyes and a swift nod, he takes off.

Rose rolls her eyes once again. What does he think she’s going to do? She knows better than to engage the enemy alone, without backup. Sure, she’s grown a little… reckless recently, and she knows Mickey has noticed, but she isn’t stupid. She sighs, and starts in a half-crouch towards the door.

Over two years. It has been over two years since she last saw him, almost three since she became stuck in this universe. She hasn’t given up hope yet, even though she’s had little success so far. It’s just… some days are harder than others. Sometimes she feels herself almost surrendering to the despair that’s been steadily growing, the heartache too much to bear. And, well, if she happened to be on a mission at the time… She shakes her head, clearing her mind to focus on the task at hand. No point thinking about this now. There was work to be done.

\--------------------

She has been exploring the warehouse for a good twenty minutes, walking carefully down a corridor, looking in one empty room to another without encountering any sign of whatever is supposed to be here. There is nothing, no sign of activity or recent disturbance to the mess the place is in. She is beginning to think that his has been a false lead when she stiffens and pauses, straining her ears.

There. There it is again. A sob, faintly echoing through the corridor.

She takes off in the direction of the sound, her hand gripping almost painfully the handle of her stun gun. She creeps forward cautiously, trying her best to be silent, until she comes to an open door. Carefully peeking inside, she freezes for a second time.

It is a large room, as dimly lit as the rest of the building, and as broken down. Scattered pieces of junk and broken glass are scattered everywhere on the ground. But what catches her attention is that back against one of the walls, inside what looks like a giant cage, are three human beings.

One is a man who looks to be in his sixties, sitting on the floor with the back of his head against the cage, his eyes closed, his posture slumped in defeat. One is a woman in her thirties, kneeling on the floor, one arm around the shoulders of the third person in an attempt at comfort. And that third person… Rose clenches her fist as a stab of pain shoots through her heart. That third person is a young girl who can’t be older than ten, sitting cross-legged on the floor, crying softly.

Rose fights against the overwhelming impulse to go to them and set them free. She has to call for back-up. She doesn’t know where the kidnappers are, or even what they are. She can’t just jump head first into the situation, even if her whole body is tightening in an urge to run to the cage. At the least, she should get one of her teammates here.

As she raises her hand to her headset to call Mickey, the line suddenly comes to life. Amidst the sounds of shots being fired and something crashing nearby, she can hear Jake’s voice, yelling.

“Everyone, get out! One of them saw me, and they’re not friendly aliens! I called for back-up, but for now, get the hell out of the building!”

Her breath quickens, her mind races, thinking fast. If the aliens know they have been found, they might decide to leave, to get away and find someplace new to hide. They might take the prisoners with them, or even worse… they might kill them, in favor of secrecy and a hasty escape. She can’t risk it.

“Mickey, I’ve found prisoners,” she calls into her headset. “Get back towards me, I'm going to get them out through that same door I came in. Hurry!”

Without waiting for his answer, she rushes into the room, quickly scanning it for any signs of aliens. Apart from the humans, it’s empty. She hasn’t met anyone on her way in either, so maybe luck is on her side. They might be all where Jake is, on the far side of the building. She moves towards the cage just as she hears Mickey’s sharp reply.

“I’ll be there fast as I can.”

The humans all look up as they see her come in, and she quickly signals them to stay quiet.

“Shh. It’s alright, I’ll get you out of here. Any of you hurt?” As they shake their heads, she lets out a small sigh of relief. Good. They would be able to move quickly.

“Alright, we need to hurry, in case one of them comes back.” She examines the cage and finds the door, kept close by a strange looking lock. Quickly changing the settings on her gun and motioning to the prisoners to move back, she is about to shoot when a faint, scared voice stops her.

“Miss? There was… another one of us,” the woman pipes up. “A man. They took him away not long ago.”

Rose lowers her gun and looks up, torn. She can’t really go look for him _now_ , can she? The aliens are alerted to their presence, there is no time. She has to get these people out, at least, while she still can.

“Alright,” she answers in her best reassuring voice. “I promise we’ll look for him. For now, let’s get you out safe and sound, OK?”

She gives them a small smile, and they nod uncertainly. Breathing deeply, she raises her gun once again and aims it at the lock, praying it would be able to break it open as she presses the trigger.

It does, but the noise her shot makes, added to the sound of the lock exploding and crashing into a million pieces on the floor, reverberates loudly into the adjacent corridors. Rose swears quietly as she moves to open the door. If any of the aliens are remotely close to them, there is no way they haven’t heard that.

She leads the prisoners quickly through the corridor, but soon she becomes aware of the sound of rushing footsteps behind them. She yells at them to go faster, and sees with relief the older man pick up the child in his arms, who was having trouble keeping up the pace.

Just as they are turning a corner, she feels a blast of energy rush past her to crash into a wall, missing her by mere inches. She crouches against the wall and quickly sets her gun back to stun.

“Go!” she yells, looking back at the prisoners. “It’s straight out from here, and Mickey should be there and help you get away. I’ll try to slow them down!”

“Mickey!” she shouts into her headset as she peeks around the corner at the two aliens coming towards her from the end of the corridor. She fires a few warning shots before pulling her head back in, narrowly avoiding another energy blast.

“I’m almost there!” comes the reply.

“Get to that door and help those people get away! Get them somewhere safe!”

She fires a few shots again and sees with satisfaction one of the aliens fall to the ground, stunned. The remaining alien ducks for cover into an adjacent room.

She waits with bated breath for any sign of movement from the corridor. She has to stand her ground, hold out a little longer, and then back-up would get here. She is so intent on the door through which the alien has disappeared that she misses the flash of movement from another door across from her, and when she hears the shot it is too late.

She feels the energy engulf her body, burning every nerve as pain explodes inside her. She tries to scream but she has no voice left, no breath. Darkness consumes her as she falls to the ground, her life slipping away from her.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor drops down on his armchair in the console room and closes his eyes, trying to shake the day away. The adventure on Reznak II has been particularly exhausting, thanks to a mad scientist and his delusions of grandeur. He sighs, rubbing his temple with one hand as he recalls the insane glint in the man's eyes as the Doctor had him trapped on the roof of his lab, preferring to fall to his death rather than being handed over to the authorities. He tries to push the guilt and pain away as he takes a sip of his tea. If only living beings would stop seeking power and domination over others… But that will never happen. As long as there is life, there will be evil.

He needs a vacation. Somewhere uneventful, peaceful and quiet, where he could just take in the sights. But then, trouble always does seem to follow him anywhere he goes. Usually he doesn't mind. Most times he actively looks for it, but right now he just wishes it could all… stop.

As if on cue, the TARDIS starts to shake violently, throwing him out of his armchair and spilling his tea on the floor.

"What's the matter, old girl?" he asks in alarm as he feels her cry out, clearly in pain. The shaking only intensifies in answer, and he rushes to the console as fast as he can.

He has no idea what is going on. They are supposed to be drifting safely in the Vortex, but he can quite clearly see that they are in flight. He circles the console in alarm, pulling levers and pressing buttons to try and stabilize her even as the shaking continues and circuits start to smoke.

They land with a crash that knocks him off his feet. He rushes back to the console, trying to figure out what happened, where they are, but the monitor is only showing gibberish and most controls seem unresponsive.

"Are you alright?" he asks his ship, worried. He can feel her, weak and in pain, and the floor is still slightly shaking even though they are no longer in flight. The doors open suddenly and he feels a feeble nudge against his mind. She wants him to leave so she can repair herself in peace, he knows.

"Are you sure? I could help."

He senses her pushing him out, almost desperately, and he tries to swallow back his concern for his beloved ship as he moves towards the door. Best to go out and explore, then. Picking up his overcoat on the way out, he puts it on over his vest before stepping outside and carefully closing the doors behind him.

He stops just outside the TARDIS and closes his eyes, his senses assaulted by a peculiar sensation. There's a sort of strangeness in the air that he can't quite define, as if the very fabric of time and space is just slightly off. He couldn't exactly say _how_ it's wrong, and it's not overwhelming, either, just… unsettling.

Shaking off the feeling, he looks around. He seems to have landed in an abandoned building of some sort. He is in a large room with pieces of broken equipment strewn everywhere. And… what appears to be a large empty cage alongside one of the walls. Curious. Not the sort of thing you'd expect to find in your standard old building.

There are two doors leading out of the room and he hesitates for a moment, unsure where to go. Before he can decide, however, he feels a small tingle on the edge of his senses, just for a second before it disappears. He has no idea what it was, or if he has ever felt anything _quite_ like it. It was clearly originating from the corridor on his right, however, so he quickly moves in that direction.

Whatever caused that strange feeling is rather shy to make itself know, he thinks wryly, as he makes his way down a dark and dusty corridor, broken down doors leading to more empty rooms on either side. He starts questioning if he imagined the sensation when he turns a corner and abruptly comes upon a body, a woman bundled awkwardly on the floor against the wall.

He's at her side in a second, crouched next to her. Her posture is unnatural; something has certainly knocked her out (or worse, he tries not to think). He gently pushes the strands of the honey blond hair obscuring her neck as he reaches to feel her pulse, praying to gods he doesn't believe in. She looks so young…

He releases a breath he didn't realize he was holding as he feels a weak fluttering in her neck. Faint, so faint… but it's there. He's reaching for his sonic, hoping to figure out what's wrong with her and stabilize her before it's too late, when his fingers at her neck brush against metal, and a glint at her chest catches his attention.

He takes a sharp inhale of breath as he sees the small key dangling from a simple silver chain, half hidden by the neck of the woman's black t-shirt. Even though it's not the same kind of key he's using right now, there's no mistaking the unique energy signature emanating from it. This is a TARDIS key.

Hs eyes flash back to her face, widened in surprise. He hadn't taken the time to really look at her as he rushed to her side before, anxious as he was, but he studies her now. Honey blond hair, which he'd noticed before, darker roots faintly showing. Plump, full lips, round cheeks, smooth skin. _Pink and yellow_. The thought comes to him, unbidden. He shakes his head slightly. She's lovely, really lovely, but… he doesn't know her. He would certainly remember giving her a key to his home, in this incarnation or in previous ones. Which only leaves…

Of course. A future him. This must be why he's here. The only reason he could cross his timeline in such a way. The Time Lords must have sent him to help a future version of himself.

Although… why didn't they bother to tell him that? It would have made things rather clearer. He supposes the problem with the TARDIS impacted the Time Lords' ability to communicate with him. He can only hope that things will go better from this point on, albeit he's not optimistic about this. He has no idea where or when he is in his own personal future, or why he is here, his other self frustratingly absent, and his future companion all but stricken down…

This thought makes him start, his attention focusing back on the woman before him. Her pulse is still so weak that he is scared it will disappear entirely, and his hand is moving towards his pocket again, where his sonic screwdriver is, when a loud, rumbling noise interrupts him.

Is that he sound of… engines? Yes, definitely, a spaceship, not far from here. What sort of engines are they? He strains his ears, trying to pick up the subtle unique patterns such technology always exhibits, when it is suddenly covered by the unmistakable sound of gunfire.

He starts, shakes his head. Right. Unidentified aliens with spaceship technology, gunfire of unknown origin, potentially dangerous situation, injured companion. Not exactly the time and place to shilly-shally, nor to try and solve mysteries by himself. He carefully gathers the unconscious young woman in his arms and strides backs to the TARDIS.

\--------

It is only when he comes in sight of his ship that he realizes she might not be ready for him yet. She had seemed badly hurt when they landed, although he has no idea what could have caused it. He had been hoping to get the woman in his arms to the infirmary before attempting to locate his future self, but the thought that he might not even be able to _enter_ his ship makes him stop short.

His misgivings are answered when the doors to the TARDIS open widely on their own, as if she sensed his arrival and wants him to get in as quickly as possible. He wastes no time obeying her. He strides quickly inside, kicks the doors closed behind him and is about to take off towards the infirmary when he notices that the corridor leading away from the console room to the rest of the ship has disappeared.

"She's hurt," he addresses his ship. "I need the infirmary. Can't you manage that at least?"

He only gets a whimper of pain in reply, from his ship as well as the woman in his arms.

"Alright, alright," he mumbles, crossing the room to deposit the woman in his armchair. He turns back and marches to the console "A hospital then. I could at least get some equipment there, find out what's wrong. Now let's try and figure out where and when we are…"

His back is to the woman in the armchair, so he misses the golden glow that spreads over her body and engulfs her for a moment before fading. He is so concentrated on trying to make sense of the gibberish on the monitor that he doesn't take note of the swell of energy in the console room. It is only when the writings on the monitor finally snap back to Gallifreyan that he looks up at the time rotor, beaming.

"Ah, perfect! Feeling better, old girl?" The TARDIS sends him an uncertain thrum which makes him frown in worry. A beeping sound from the monitor snaps his eyes back to it. "London, twenty-first century. Hmm… Not too bad, could be better. Let's see, hospitals in London, familiar with alien technology… UNIT? They have a medical facility… Yes, that will have to do. Do you think you could manage a small jump in space?"

At the weak affirmative hum, he jumps into action, inputting coordinates and preparing them for flight. The TARDIS takes off amidst strained sounds and muted shakings, but manages to land shortly after. The Doctor strokes the console fondly for a moment, thanking her for the effort, before turning to the still unconscious woman slumped in his armchair. She has gained some colors back, he notices with satisfaction, and when he checks her pulse he finds it stronger than before. This is all very encouraging, but what he really wants is to get her under a scanner and find out what is wrong with her. He takes her in his arms gently, careful not to jostle her too much, and exits the TARDIS.

He almost drops her in surprise when he sees where they are.

"What…?"

The TARDIS has landed in the corner of a living room. In front of him is a comfortable-looking dark blue couch facing a television, a small coffee table in between. Further ahead he can see what is presumably the front door, framed with a few hanging coats and pairs of shoes. To the left, a hallway leads away from the living room. The whole area is bathed in fading afternoon light from the windows behind him.

He's landed in a flat.

His first thought, after the initial surprise, is to think how rude this is, landing in someone's home. His second, more rational, is to wonder how he got here. Wrong coordinates maybe? Or something still affecting the navigational system of the TARDIS?

The place is quiet and still, and it seems empty, which he is thankful for. His eyes roam over the place as he mulls over what to do next. Should he try to take off in the TARDIS again, risking another error like this? Or stay here, wherever this is, and try to get some help? He takes a few steps towards the couch, meaning to set the woman in his arms down on top of it to better consider his options. As he does so, his eyes fall on the small side table next to it. On it are a reading lamp, a book, and… a picture. A picture of the woman in his arms, smiling at the camera alongside an older blonde woman with a baby in her arms.

It's _her_ flat.

And now he's more confused than ever, because this can't possibly have been an accident. This means that the TARDIS _wanted_ to bring them here, although why she did so is completely beyond him.

He takes in the area once again, looking at it with a new eye. With the exception of the picture on the side table, the room is very sparsely decorated. Everything in it is tidy and clean. It doesn't look much lived-in, and the room emanates a rather impersonal air. This surprises him. It's true that he doesn't know the woman in his arms, or not yet anyway, but he has the inexplicable feeling that this shouldn't be where she lives, that this is wrong.

He thinks… that she is the type of person whose personality should shine and touch everything around her.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, he sets the woman down on the couch. Surely, if the TARDIS brought them here on purpose instead of in a medical facility, she must be out of immediate danger. Still, he kneels on the floor in front of her and takes out his sonic screwdriver. She looks much better. Her pulse is now strong, her breathing normal. She simply seems asleep. One more thing to puzzle over. What happened to her that she seemed close to dying when he found her, mere minutes ago, but had now almost completely healed from, without any medical attention?

Trying to crack this mystery, he scans her with the sonic. When he can't find anything conclusive, he changes the settings and scans her again. And again. He can feel some strange energy around her, made stranger by the fact that it seems almost familiar, although he can't quite figure out why. But he can't find anything with the limited resources he has, and he reluctantly gives up trying. He pauses, looking around once more.

Well. Since this is her flat, he might as well put her in her bed and let her rest comfortably. He takes her in his arms again and heads towards the hallway leading to the rest of the flat. He passes the kitchen and the bathroom, peeks inside a room to discover it is a workspace, a desk with a computer and scattered papers flanked by well-filled bookcases. He finally finds the bedroom as he reaches the furthest door of the hallway. In the center of the room thrones a large plush bed with a soft pink comforter. Another bookcase stands next to an armchair on one side of the bed. On the other side is a wardrobe. He sets the woman down on the bed and straightens up, hesitating as he contemplates the wardrobe. Maybe he should change her into pajamas: it would be more comfortable for her than the clothes she has on. The thought of undressing her, however, unnerves him. He frowns, trying to get rid of the sensation. He shouldn't feel this way. Yes, she is a lovely young woman, but he is above such things, above baser feelings like lust or sexual attraction. Nonetheless, the nervousness persists and, shaking his head, he decides against it, settling on simply removing her shoes and her jacket.

Once this is done he leaves the room, makes his way down the corridor and turns into the living room, intent on checking on the TARDIS. The sight from the windows freezes him in his steps. He had his back turned to them before, so he hadn't noticed it, but it's hard to miss now.

This is London, no doubt about it, except the London he remembers doesn't have quite so many zeppelins it its sky.

"What in the world…?" He closes his eyes for a second, exasperated by the strangeness of the situation. This whole adventure has been one perplexing surprise after another, and he wishes he could just understand…

The realization comes in a flash.

Parallel universe. Of course. This explains the strangeness in the air he's felt ever since he landed.

One mystery down, at least. Or, well…Really, this just adds more questions, doesn't it?

He sighs, turning away from the windows towards his ship. Time to locate his future self – he must be here somewhere, even if for some reason he can't sense him right now – and figure out what exactly is going on here.

\--------

An hour, thirteen minutes and twenty-six seconds later, the Doctor feels like banging his head on the console. He has gotten absolutely nowhere in his search for answers. He can't locate his future self, he can't communicate with the Time Lords, he can't even properly figure out where he is. He is beginning to doubt his previous assumption of being sent here to help a future incarnation. If this were the case, wouldn't he have received _some_ form of communication by now? And he really should be able to trace his future self in some way, but it's as if he's completely disappeared from this universe. But then, how to explain landing next to a future companion still carrying a TARDIS key? It would certainly be too much of a coincidence to be believable.

What's more, the TARDIS is being strangely uncooperative, and he suspects she has a hand in all of this. She seems to have recovered from whatever happened to her earlier, but she writes gibberish on the monitor, she is silent to his requests to open more rooms. And she refuses to leave, whether it is to go back to the warehouse or to UNIT, even if he promises it would only be a quick trip there and back to gather some information.

He considers leaving by the front door - nothing she could do to stop him, then - but hesitates to leave the unconscious woman alone. Without the TARDIS, he can't leave and be back a second later, and he doesn't want to risk her condition deteriorating without him being there. He can still remember how faint her pulse was, how close to death she looked. He doesn't trust her sudden and unexplained recovery, and he doesn't want to risk anything happening to her. In the end, he walks back to her bedroom, scours her bookcase for an interesting title – Dickens, how delightful - and settles in the chair next to her bed with a sigh.

Fine. The TARDIS wins. He'll stay here like a good boy and wait for the mysterious companion to wake up.


	3. Chapter 3

Rose emerges slowly from sleep, eyes still closed, unwilling to part with the fading remnants of her dream. It was about the Doctor again, as it often is. Her dreams are almost always the same, a variation on a theme.

The sound of the TARDIS would reach her ears, first, and she would drop everything to rush towards it. Heart hammering, she would watch the ship appear in front of her eyes, this magnificent blue box carrying her home and her heart. The setting would not always be the same: she could be in her bedroom, her parents’ sitting room, her office at Torchwood, even sometimes in the field during one of her missions. Wherever she was, she would reach the doors at the same time as they would open, the Doctor appearing on the threshold. Most times it would be her pinstriped Doctor, with his brilliant hair and dazzling smile. Other times it would be her first Doctor, all leather and piercing blue eyes and utterly _gorgeous_ as well.

Regardless of the version of him, the progression would always be the same. They would fall into each other’s arms, holding each other desperately. For a long moment they wouldn’t move, simply breathing in the presence of the other, but then their eyes would meet. He would lower his head at the same time as she would tilt up hers, and their mouths would meet, finally. The kiss would start gentle, but then a tongue would flick out to caress lips, and she would moan, or he would groan, and it would suddenly turn passionate. When her dreams happened in her bedroom, or even in her Torchwood office, hands would start roaming, clothes would disappear, and…

Those are her favorite dreams.

She smiles, eyes still closed, as she stretches her arms above her head. It had been different, this time, more of a blur, but she remembers his touch, his smell, the sound of the TARDIS. The presence of the ship still lingers in her mind and she burrows further in her bed, unwilling to let it go.

A quiet rustling of fabric at her side pops her sleepy bubble, and she opens her eyes with a start.

Sitting in the armchair next to her bed is a man. A strange man with long chestnut curls and deep blue-grey eyes, dressed in odd period clothes.

She stares at him in confusion for a moment, her mind still muddled from sleep, before her wits snap back in place. Her Torchwood training kicks in as she rolls off the other side of the bed and stands up, her body tense and ready to react.

“Who are you? How did you get in here?”

The stranger stands up slowly, hands raised in a soothing gesture.

“Don’t worry, I mean no harm. I’m a friend.”

Rose narrows her eyes at him, studying him more closely. “A friend? I don’t even know you.”

“Yes, you do, you know me well, although not _this_ me _._ ” He pauses and smiles at her, eyes full of warmth. “I’m the Doctor, you see.”

This completely unexpected statement knocks the breath out of her, and she takes an involuntary step back, eyes wide in astonishment, her heart beating painfully fast.

“What?” she manages to breathe out. He takes a step towards her, and she flinches, stopping him.

“It’s the truth, I swear. Let me explain. You know me as someone else, another person, but you see, there is this trick that Time Lords can do to cheat death, we can -"

"Change every cell in your body, same man, new face,” she finishes in a whisper, automatically, her mind blank.

"Yes, very good!” he exclaims, beaming at her. “You know about regeneration, then?”

“Yeah, I – I saw it happen, you had to explain it to me, after…“

She stop, takes a shaky breath. The shock of the man’s statement has completely overwhelmed her and she closes her eyes for a moment, attempting to regain her composure. Is it true? It occurs to her that it might be a lie, but what would he gain from it, and how could he even know about the Doctor? So very few do, in this universe.

But, if this _is_ the Doctor… Does this mean he has regenerated again? For a moment, her heart tugs painfully at the thought that she’ll never see her pinstriped Doctor again. But then something occurs to her, and she opens her eyes, frowning. If this is the Doctor, why can’t he remember regenerating _right in front of her_?

“Oh, I see,” he replies, oblivious to her internal struggle. “You stayed with me through a regeneration then, very impressive.” He appraises her for a moment before continuing. “Well, since you don’t seem to know me, I assume you met me in a future body. I must say, I’m disappointed. It means _I_ won’t get to spend much time with you.” He flashes her a smile, but her mind is reeling too much to take note. _Future body_? Then… then this means…

He must have seen understanding dawn in her eyes, because he nods and adds: “Yes, I am a past incarnation of both versions of the Doctor you know.”

She wants to say something in response, but her heart seems to be lodged in her throat. She wants to move, but she’s frozen in place. She swallows heavily, eyes locked on his. She watches him take a careful step towards her, then another, circling the bed between them. He stops a few feet from her, observing her intently.

“I saw your TARDIS key. Since I don't recall meeting you, or giving you a key to my ship, I must assume that you are a companion from my future.”

Her hand shoots to the key hanging from a chain around her neck, and she wraps her fingers around it instinctively. She stares at him, letting his words sink in. Is she still dreaming? She doesn't think she is - her TARDIS key feels real around her fingers- and her dreams are never this strange. She looks into his eyes, the shade so different from piercing blue, or chocolate brown, but still beautiful, and she takes a step forward. She raises the hand not clutching her key slowly, tentatively, and presses it to his chest.

Underneath her fingers, a double heartbeat thrums steadily.

For the second time in a short few minutes, she feels all the air leave her body. It’s him, it’s _really him_. She stays still for a moment, her hand on his chest, the undeniable confirmation of his words beating against her palm.

“Doctor,” she breathes out, before closing the distance and throwing her arms around him.

He feels solid against her, strong arms encircling her kindly, if a little awkwardly. She knows she shouldn't - he doesn't know her yet, she hasn't earned the right to _those_ arms - but she can't bring herself to let go. He feels a little different, doesn’t smell exactly the same, but the essentials are unchanged. Two hearts beating where her head rests against his chest. The scent of spices and tea, and of something so uniquely him that had stayed the same before, as well...

She releases him after a little while and steps back, her smile tremulous, unshed tears in her eyes.

“I – I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have –“

“It’s quite alright,” he cuts her off. “I suspect you’ve had a rather difficult day, and it got the better of you.”

Her smile widens gratefully as she wipes her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Yeah, you can say that again. More like a difficult few years –“

She stops abruptly, realizing who she is talking to. This is a _past_ Doctor, who knows next to nothing about her. How exactly did he get here, in this universe, in her _flat_?

“Doctor, how…why are you here?”

“Well, I’m not sure exactly,” he replies, frowning. “The TARDIS was drifting peacefully in the vortex when she started shaking violently. She then took flight by herself, and when she finally landed, it was in an old dusty building where I found you, unconscious. I brought you back to the TARDIS, but she was too weak to open the infirmary, so she brought us here instead, disregarding my commands. So there was nothing left for me to do but wait for you to regain consciousness to find out what is happening. And here we are now.”

She can only gape at him as he finishes his explanation. The earlier events of the day have only just come back to her. She remembers, now: the mission, the warehouse, leading out prisoners. Aliens rushing in behind them. She recalls firing her gun, stunning one, but getting caught unawares by another. She can almost feel the pain exploding inside her again, before everything turned black. The next thing she remembers is waking up in her bed. Or… wait – is it?

She frowns, straining to reach a fading memory. Warmth encompassing her whole body, and… singing? A hauntingly familiar air, but the melody evades her. Where had she heard it before?

The feel of a hand on her shoulder stirs her out of her musings. Her thoughts must have shown on her face, judging by the look of concern on the Doctor’s face.

“Are you alright? What happened to you?”

“I’m fine,” she replies absently. The feeling of his hand lightly stroking her shoulder is distracting her, scattering her thoughts, but when he lets it drop after a few seconds she misses his touch. She takes a moment before continuing, trying to clear her mind. “We were investigating strange noises and flashes of light near the warehouse. We split up to cover more ground, and I found human prisoners in this sort of big cage.” She sees him open his mouth to interrupt her, but he seems to reconsider and closes it again without a word. She lets her eyes drift away from his face, over his shoulder, as she lets the memory of the day wash over her.

“Three prisoners, one of them a little girl, no older than ten… They told me there was a fourth missing, but I couldn’t leave them there to go look for him. So I freed them and started leading them out, but… the kidnappers had heard us, and suddenly they caught up with us. Started shooting. I stayed behind to hold them back. I saw them, then, they were – some kind of aliens, never met that race before. One of them caught me by surprise. He shot me, and I –“

“Shot you!” he cuts her off. Her eyes snap back to his. He is staring at her in alarm.

“Yeah, by some kind of energy weapon. Must have been a stunner, although it hurt a lot more than any I’ve ever been shot with. Next thing I remember is waking up here.”

“What, do you make a habit of getting shot by stunners?” he asks, astonished.

She shrugs, ignoring his concern. “Anyway, I’m fine now. What we need to do is find out what –“

“You’re _fine_? Are you serious? When I found you, you were barely alive! You can’t just be _fine_! No, no, I need to figure out what happened to you. “

“Doctor, I’m _alright_. You can see that for yourself. Right now, it’s more important to find out what happened to the prisoners and save them if we can.”

He sighs and runs a hand over his face, into his hair. The gesture reminds her so much of her pinstriped Doctor that she feels a pang of longing at the sight. It’s really him. Still the same man.

“Alright, fine. We’ll focus on that first. But afterwards, I want you under a scanner, is that understood?”

She nods, smiling brightly. He said ‘ _we’ll_ focus on that’ and her heart warms at the thought of a new adventure with the Doctor, whichever version he is.

”Good. Now tell me, what did these aliens look like?”

She describes them as well as she can from what she can remember from that adrenaline-fuelled moment. Humanoid, long slim limbs, almost translucent blue skin. Flat nose, long fingers, somewhat reptilian eyes. Fluid movements. Fast runners. She describes their gun as well, and what it felt like when she got shot, ignoring his renewed look of concern at her words.

He starts pacing as she talks, and when she is done she falls silent, watching him. With the shock of the last few minutes, she hadn’t taken the time to really look at him, but with his attention now focused elsewhere she can’t help but stare at him.

He’s… stunning. Sensuous lips, beautiful eyes. She has an itch to sink her fingers into his hair and tug on those curls of his. All of those layers can’t hide his slim and fit body, and she finds herself imagining him without them, like she used to with the other two versions of him.

His voice startles her out of her thoughts and she sees him looking at her expectantly. She blushes at having been caught staring and clears her throat, trying to get rid of the images he evoked in her mind.

“Sorry, what?”

“I said, I have an idea of what race they could be. Drazfins, probably. They’re a peaceful race, however, so I’m surprised they have anything to do with this. But in any case, I should be able to scan for their spaceship using the TARDIS. If I'm correct, it should have left quite a unique radiation signature in its trail. We should be able to find out where they went."

"Great," Rose says, moving towards the door. "Then let's get to the TARDIS and -"

"Wait."

Surprised, she turns back towards him to see him looking at her inquisitively.

"Earlier, you said _we_. _We_ were investigating, _we_ split up. You were very unclear on who _we_ is, however. Tell me. Were you with the version of me you travel with? Where is he right now?"

She swallows nervously as she considers her answer. Of course he thinks she still travels with him. He saw the key, and it was a logical conclusion to draw. Should she tell him they have been forced apart, years ago? It would probably lead to many, _many_ more questions, and she’s not sure now is the best time to have this conversation. When they _do_ talk, she wants to do it properly, to take the time to explain. She’s not sure he can help her, if he can bring her back, but she has to ask, at least. And will he agree to help her, considering how little he knows her right now?

As much as she would like to resolve those personal issues and have answers to her questions as soon as possible, she can’t shy away from her responsibilities. She’s a Torchwood operative, and a human life is at risk – possibly more than one.

And that brings her to her second dilemma. Should she tell him about Torchwood? She feels like this conversation would lead down the same path: how could she work for Torchwood in this universe and still travel with the Doctor in another? Besides, he would want her to contact her team, to find out from them what happened after she was knocked unconscious. She knows she should call them. She disappeared from the warehouse, after all, they must be worried. They probably think she was taken prisoner by the aliens. But… if she were to contact Mickey _now_ , she would have to explain to him how she traveled from the warehouse to her flat, and… she’s probably being selfish, but she doesn’t want anyone to know about this Doctor, not yet. She doesn’t want to have to deal with their questions and comments, not until she’s had a chance to really talk to the Doctor herself, first.

All these thoughts rush quickly through her mind as she tries to decide on an answer.

"I was with some friends,” she replies slowly, carefully choosing her words. “They left the building before me. I wasn’t with you – future you I mean. You’re… not here, right now."

It's not a lie, not exactly, but it's not really the truth either, and she can see that he knows it. He is watching intensely, as if he’s staring right through her and trying to read her very thoughts. She can see curiosity in his eyes, mixed in with a bit of wariness.

It devastates her to realize that he doesn’t trust her, not completely. Of course, he has every right to. She’s keeping so many things from him. About herself, and his own future, too. She’s suddenly overcome by the wish that he could just _know_ her, this him, know every little detail of her like he used to – like he will, someday. Then she could… she could act like she always used to around him. She just wants to go over there and hug him again. She has an itch to reach out and take his hand into her own, because it feels so wrong for her hand to be empty when the Doctor is _right there_ in front of her. She closes her eyes for a moment, frustrated. She doesn’t know how she’ll be able to contain herself around him. She’ll certainly have to try if she doesn’t want to scare him off.

When she opens her eyes again she sees that his look has softened, the wariness gone. He nods, accepting her words with a gentle smile on his lips, and the stress that has built up in the last few seconds start to dissipate.

“Fair enough. Now, one more thing.”

Rose tenses once more at his words. She doesn’t want to lie to him again. She doesn’t think she could. She watches as he steps closer, gently reaching for her hand.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been very rude. In all the commotion, I forgot to ask your name.”

All the renewed tension leaves her body. That she can tell him, at least. She’s about to answer when a memory from a lifetime ago flashes in her mind.

_“I’m the Doctor, by the way. What’s your name?”_

_“Rose.”_

_“Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life!”_

Oh God. When they met, back when he wore leather, all those years ago, he didn’t know her. But he’s met her _now_. Is this a paradox? Or has this changed everything? Will this meeting, years and years before its time, alter what her life has been with him? If _this_ him learns that they will be separated, that she will be torn from her original universe, away from him, will he still ask her to come with him, in his future body?

Or will he try to avoid her, and die at the hands of the Nestene Consciousness?

He must have sensed her rising panic. He squeezes her hand, frowning in concern.

“What’s the matter?”

She takes a deep shaky breath, trying to control herself. Her memories are intact, and she’s still there, isn’t she? Then nothing horrible has happened yet, they can still fix this.

“Doctor, when you met me, all those years ago – or years from now, I guess – you didn’t know me. But you’ve met me _now_. Will this… Will this change anything?”

He looks surprised by her words for a moment, but then he beams at her, an enthusiastic smile that illuminates his whole face.

“Very good! Not many people would think to worry about the stability of the timeline, I’m impressed!”

He keeps smiling at her, clearly excited at the prospect. This helps soothe her worry a little. It can’t be _too_ dire if he’s that happy about it.

“Well, I am pretty good!” she replies, a tentative grin forming in response to his contagious one.

“I’ll say! I’m starting to understand why I asked you to travel me! But on that subject – no, it’s not a problem. Don’t worry. I can bury the memory of you in my mind when we part, until it’s safe to remember it again.”

She nods, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Well then. I’m Rose, Rose Tyler.”

“Nice to meet you, Rose Tyler,” he replies, smiling at her.

Her name rolls off his tongue in the same way it used to, like he’s savouring each syllable. It’s such a blatant reminder that he’s still him, the same man she loves, that it takes everything she has to keep from launching herself into his arms. She settles on smiling brightly, her tongue poking out of her mouth like she used to do when she was teasing him. She sees with satisfaction his eyes flit to it for a second before returning to hers.

“Well,” he says, clearing his throat. “Come one then, Rose Tyler. The TARDIS awaits in the living room.”

She grins happily and leads the way out of the bedroom.


	4. Chapter 4

She is a mystery, this lovely young woman. He knows that before she even wakes up. The very room he is sitting in puzzles him, because it means a future companion of his lives in another universe. She even has family there, if the picture in the living room is anything to go by, since it is quite clearly her mother with her in that picture. Did the woman decide to travel with him despite the fact that this would mean leaving her own universe behind? It has happened before, of course – he will never forget C’rizz – but it is usually a rather rare occurrence. And if this is the answer… why are they back in her universe now? And _where is the future version of himself_? He has taken a book to pass the time by her side, but he finds himself reading very little, pondering these mysteries instead.

He can tell the moment she wakes up. He senses vague projections and feelings emanating from her, buzzing at the edge of his consciousness as she emerges from sleep, and this, _this_ , is another mystery. She must be a rather extraordinary woman because, as far as he knows, there has never been a telepathic human before her.

She is making no attempt to control her telepathy, and he wonders if this is because she is not fully awake, or if she is simply not aware of her capabilities. But surely the future version of himself would have noticed, and taught her to control it?

He tries not to listen to what she is projecting, because that would just be rude, but he can’t help the feelings of warmth, contentment, love and longing that seep into his mind from the woman on the bed, an unexpected mix that takes him by surprise and makes him shift nervously in his seat. He can tell that she has heard his movement as the feelings withdraw abruptly and her eyes fly open. He watches as she stares blankly at him for a moment before rolling out of bed with fluidity and ease. He gets a new wave of feelings then – wariness, surprise, but no fear - which makes him raise his hands in a soothing gesture.

He can tell that she is in shock when he reveals who he is, surprise and disbelief radiating from her, mixed with a touch of suspicion. He also knows when she starts believing him, hope and joy slowly dissipating all other feelings – and, oh, she stayed with him through a regeneration? Really? That’s remarkable. Not many companions can accept such changes.

When she places her hand between his hearts, he feels a pull inside him at her touch that takes him completely by surprise. When she hugs him, he quickly decides he needs to stop listening in on her telepathic projections. She’s a whirlwind of feelings, this girl, threatening to drown him with them. He hurriedly erects a shield against her telepathy, feeling much better when everything is once again calm and rational in his mind.

This is when he notices the second extraordinary thing about her.

He can’t see her timeline. Not at all.

This regeneration has a better time sense than most bodies he’s had before, and he’s used to the odd insight into the future of everyone he meets. That he sees nothing of hers is… unnerving for him. Is it because of some external influence, shielding it from him? If so, who or what is doing it, and why?

They exchange stories, and the mystery of the woman continues to increase. She was shot, close to dying, but she is now standing in front of him, perfectly fine. She is also being rather vague on certain elements of her story – who she was with, to start with. When he tries to ask for clarification, she hesitates, and gives an incredibly ambiguous answer.

Is she hiding something? Is she lying to him? He watches her intently, attempting to discern any sign of dishonesty in her features, but she closes her eyes, shutting herself off from his inspection. Frustrated and resolute to get an answer, he lets his mental shield slip a little. He senses her feelings instantly – hesitancy, frustration, sadness, longing. No trace of deceit.

He is warmed by the knowledge that she is being truthful. Oh, she is hiding something, most definitely, and he wants to learn what it is - he loves a good mystery - but she is not lying to him at least. He already feels an attachment to the young woman - the echo of future companionship, no doubt - and he would hate to think badly of her. He decides to let the subject drop, at least for the moment, and ask for her name.

When she reveals her fear, he is surprised and pleased by her insight. Non-linear time is usually so difficult to understand to those without a time sense. He attempts to reassure her - it has become an essential skill in his life to suppress memories - but she is wise to be careful. Better not to tempt him more than necessary.

In any case, the lovely Rose Tyler has presented him with an adventure, and after being forced to wait for the past few hours he is eager to finally see some action. He follows her out of the bedroom and down the corridor.

He hears her gasp quietly as she stops on the threshold of the living room. He steps besides her, intrigued, to see her staring at the TARDIS, delight mixing with tears in her eyes. She breathes once, twice, and then rushes to the door. He watches her pull out her key, unlock the door and disappear inside, and he finally follows her.

He is astonished by what he sees when he reaches his ship. Rose is standing by the console, stroking it and whispering quiet words, as if greeting an old friend. What surprises him even more is how the TARDIS is responding, humming waves upon waves of happiness and affection at the woman. He has seen the TARDIS get along well with companions before, but… not like this.

Both the TARDIS and Rose seem immersed in their own little bubble, nothing existing but each other as he observes by the door. Curious, he eases off his mental barrier, and another surprise awaits him. Rose is sending back waves of love and happiness to the TARDIS as she turns in a wide circle to take in the cavernous console room. Someone other than him communicating telepathically with his ship is unheard of. It makes his breath catch, but he he’s unsure how exactly he feels about it.

As she completes her turn her eyes fall on him and she smiles, a wide, bright, beautiful smile.

“She’s so different from what I know. But she’s still as gorgeous as ever.”

He beams back, pleased at her words. Well, at least that definitely settles it. She can’t be a liar, or a deceiver, or a corrupt companion if the TARDIS loves her hat much.

“Yes, she is, isn’t she? The most beautiful ship in the universe.”

The TARDIS thrums in pleasure at his words, and Rose lets out a cheerful laugh.

“Come on then, Doctor. Let’s see if we can find these aliens.”

“Yes, hopefully the ship will be more cooperative _now_ than she was while you were sleeping,” he replies wryly as he steps up to the console.

“I’m sure she will. She probably just didn’t want you swanning off without me.”

He hums vaguely in response, and begins initializing the scan, letting his thoughts wander. She is probably right, he realizes, now that he has seen how the TARDIS behaves with Rose. He _knew_ she had a hand in this. Landing close to Rose when she is knocked unconscious, bringing them to her flat of her own accord, interfering with any attempt to leave or gain information until she is awake… Somehow, whatever is happening here, he has the feeling the TARDIS is involved.

It doesn’t take him very long to pinpoint the energy signature he’s looking for. The Drazfins have tried to hide it, but it’s an easy task for him to unscramble the signal and track its trail. The aliens have landed again, and he has the location.

“Haha! I’ve got you! Rose, I know where – “ he begins, turning towards where he thinks the woman is. He is aware that she moved away while he was working, but he though she had simply settled in one of the armchairs in the console room. Instead he finds himself alone, the room empty.

He does notice, however, that the doorway leading to the rest of the ship has reappeared. He strides through it and down the short corridor to see that the kitchen has popped back, and that Rose Tyler is currently sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of tea, staring into space, a frown on her face.

Oh, _of course_. When he begs the TARDIS to bring rooms back, she completely ignores him, but when _Rose Tyler_ wants some tea… He’s starting to think his ship likes this woman better than him.

The TARDIS sends a wave of amusement at his annoyance, and Rose raises her head towards him.

“Oh, you’re here! I didn’t hear you come in. Sorry, I fancied a cuppa while I waited for you to finish the scan.”

“It’s quite alright. The scan is done, actually.”

“Really? That was fast.”

“Yes, well, as you predicted, the TARDIS was a lot more cooperative this time around.” He sighs in mock annoyance, and is rewarded by her large smile. He grins in return.

“In any case, I discovered that the Drazfins have landed again. They tried to hide their ship’s energy signature, but they were no match for me.”

“Oh, obviously,” she replies, amused, as she moves to stand up from her seat.

“I didn’t mean to rush you. You can finish your tea first, if you want.”

Rose shakes her head as she moves towards him. “No, let’s go now, I’m ready!” she assures him.

Her step has an enthusiastic bounce to it, and he realizes she is as eager for adventure as he is.

“Very well then, Rose Tyler. Shall we?”

He offers her his arm, and she takes it with a small laugh. Together they walk back to the control room.

\--------

They are both standing by the console as the Doctor analyzes the result of the scan.

"Alright, let's see… where are they?” The monitor beeps and he pauses, parsing through the information that has appeared. “Hmm. Not in London anymore. Nowhere near any town, actually. It would seem they have landed in Yorkshire.”

“Yorkshire? What are they doing there?”

“Hiding, possibly. Right, I’ll land us a hundred meters or so away from their ship, to ensure they’re not aware of our presence. Ready?”

Rose nods excitedly, and he starts the dematerialization sequence, darting around the console to tweak controls and twist dials. They land a second later with a jolt that projects them both to the ground. He is back on his feet first, offering a hand up to a laughing Rose.

“Every single time, Doctor. Oh, I missed this,” she says with a wide smile. She bounds to the doors, looking over her shoulders. “Coming?”

She pushes the doors open without waiting for him, and he hurries after her as she steps outside. They are standing in the middle of a wide clearing. The area is devoid of activity, the world around them completely silent. In the dying light of sunset, they can see an old two-storey house some distance in front of them. It has the cold and dejected air of long-uninhabited dwellings, paint washed away by seasons, every window boarded up, decaying fence and overgrown vegetation surrounding it.

“Is this where they are?” Rose asks quietly. “I don’t see their ship.”

“It’s probably cloaked. The scan was positive: the energy signature ended right in front of us.”

She nods, and they start their trek towards the house.

“Doctor, tell me about these Drazfins,” she enquires as they walk.

“I don’t know very much about them. The few times I met them, they were rather peaceful, as I said. Technologically advanced, but very reserved, so they don’t travel a lot outside of their star system, which is incidentally not very far from Earth. They’re not exactly keen on strangers, but they’re not hostile to them, either. They were kind enough to help me when I landed there by accident that one time while I was tracking a strange energy signature that was interfering with the Automatic Drift Control. Funny thing, it turned out that they had built this – “

He stops talking as he notices Rose looking at him with a raised eyebrow and an amused look on her face. Ah. Was he rambling again? He clears his throat sheepishly.

“Well, that’s not really relevant information right now. And here we are, anyway.”

They have reached the fence encircling the house. They stop and crouch next to it, observing the building. The board on the main door has been torn down; they can see it lying on the floor besides the front steps. No light can be seen through the blocked windows, but they can hear faint sounds of activity coming from inside the house.

“Well, it looks like we have found our aliens. What do you think, Rose? Shall we try the front door?”

“Best not, Doctor. We should circle the house, see if we can find another way in.” She starts moving, not waiting for his answer. He rushes after her, stopping her with a hand on her arm.

“We could try talking to them, you know.”

She looks at him as though he has grown an extra head. “Doctor, they _shot_ me.”

“Well, from what you told me, you shot them first.”

“They had human prisoners! Look, the Drazfins may be all peaceful and friendly in our original universe, but it doesn’t look that way here!”

She moves off again and he stares at her retreating form, dumbfounded. _Our_ original universe? He had come to the conclusion that this universe was hers, and that he had taken her as a companion after visiting here. After all, she has a home here, and family. It seemed he was wrong.

Every hint he gets, instead of clarifying her story, only adds to her mystery. And he’s always been drawn to the unknown.

He hears her voice softly calling his name, and he hurries after her. She is crouched again when he catches up, looking at a small basement window.

“Look there,” she whispers. “The wood of the board is all rotten. I bet we could pry it off easily.”

He nods, and they set to their task. Soon it is off, and they discover that the window itself has already been broken. The room below is completely dark and silent.

The Doctor reaches into his pocket for his sonic screwdriver and, adjusting the settings, illuminates the space. From what he can see, the room is empty save for a few scattered pieces of rotten, dusty furniture.

“Right, I’ll go in first.” He crawls over the threshold, twists himself around, and grips the edge of the window, mindful of the shards of glass remaining around the frame. He starts easing himself down and, when he can go no further, drops the short distance to the ground. He gains his footing rapidly and surveys the room a second time. It’s dirty and unfinished, most likely formerly used as a storage area, but there’s definitely no one lurking in shadows, and he can see an old staircase leading up to the rest of the house.

“Alright, Rose. You can come down.”

He watches her appear over the edge, mimicking his own descent. When she starts easing herself down, he steps up and places his hands on her waist to help her. She gasps at his touch, losing her grip, but he stops her fall, holding her firmly to him.

She’s warm, and so soft, that he freezes for a moment. His face is at the curve of her neck, her hair caressing his face, and her scent is intoxicating. He comes back to his senses abruptly as he feels her heartbeat increase, her skin start to flush. He sets her down on the floor and steps back quickly. He’s at a loss for what to say, or what to think. He has no idea what just happened. Before he has time to react, Rose clears her throat and turns around, scanning the room, visibly avoiding his eyes.

“Right. There’s a staircase, over there. Let’s see if we can slip upstairs unnoticed.”

She strides towards it immediately, and he follows numbly. He needs… he needs to set this aside, to focus on the present situation. Maybe his shields have slipped, and he was affected by her own emotions. He concentrates for a moment, compartmentalizing, reinforcing his mental barriers, before finally regaining his rational mind. He slides in next to her at the top of the stairs feeling like himself once more.

The door at the top of the stairs is firmly closed. He can hear movement upstairs, fragments of voices, but nothing distinct enough to understand what is being said, even with his superior hearing. He reaches for the doorknob and looks towards Rose, motioning to stay quiet. She nods, and he starts turning the handle painstakingly slowly.

When it can’t turn any more, he waits one heartbeats, two, then pushes the door a few inches. It moves with a terrifying squeak, and he stills immediately, waiting with bated breath for the sound of footsteps that doesn’t come. The opened door does let in more sound than before, however, the voices reaching them much more distinctly than before.

“What’s the matter?” drifts in one voice. It has a strange echoing character to it which the Doctor immediately recognizes as Drazfinian in origin.

“I thought I heard something,” answers a second voice. This one is lighter, with the singing quality to it indicative of a female Drazfin. “But never mind. Must have been the boss walking upstairs. This house creaks like crazy.”

“Hmm. Here, help me move him.”

A pause.

“Right. Strap him while I reconnect the monitor.”

There is silence for a long minute. “What’s taking them so long?” wonders the first voice.

It is followed almost immediately by the sound of a door opening and closing hurriedly.

“Czif, there you are, finally!” he exclaims. “Everything alright?”

“No, it’s not. It’s really not,” a third voice, female again, answers in a panicked tone. “ We’re in trouble, Ariz. Where’s the boss?”

“Upstairs,” replies the one named Ariz. “Why? What’s happened?”

“It’s the… Well, we had to pack up so quickly, there wasn’t time to gather everything. And we _had_ to take those results, we just couldn’t redo the whole thing. And the extractor, we couldn’t leave it. And –“

“Just tell us, Czif.”

“We… we didn’t have time to take all of the capsules that were in the lab. I thought – I thought we had a lot more left unpacked in the ship, but…”

“Oh no. How much of it have we left?”

“Enough for a week, maybe, if - if we ration...”

“Damn, that’s not enough time,” curses Ariz, stricken. “Firzian, we have to tell him.”

“Well I’m not going up there by myself,” the second voice – Firzian – replies. “Come on, all of you. Let’s get this over with.”

The sound of three footsteps going up a staircase reaches them before fading away. Silence falls again. After a few moments, the Doctor turns to Rose.

“Well, this was very interesting, but I’m rather itching for some visual information. Shall we go have a look?”

She nods, and he quickly opens the door the rest of the way. It creaks loudly again, but just as before no one comes rushing at the sound. The staircase opens into a dim and dusty corridor, and he turns to the right, leading the way towards where the voices had come from, Rose following a few paces behind him.

He stops when he reaches what probably used to be the living room area. Unlike the rest of the rooms, it has been cleaned and debris cleared away. To one side is the front door, and in front of it a staircase leads up to the second floor, from which he can hear echoes of voices reaching them. In one corner of the room is what looks to be a generator, a tangle of wires running from it to different machines placed around the room. And in the center…

In the center is a young man, possibly no more than twenty years old, strapped to an examination table. Tubes and catheters connect his arms and chest to bags of solution and electronic equipment.

He exclaims quietly and rushes over to him, sonic screwdriver out in his hand in a second. He hears Rose curse behind him as she steps in turn into the room and hurries over to the man. He performs a quick scan with the sonic, only slightly appeased by the results.

“He was knocked unconscious by something remarkably similar to morphine. Other than that, he’s… weak, but not in immediate danger.”

Rose nods before moving towards one of the straps holding down the poor man, working to set him free. He’s about to step to the other side to help her in this task when something in his field of vision catches his eye.

Empty test tubes, well plates and pipettes sit on a table next to Erlenmeyer flasks, burners and funnels. He looks around the room with more attention than before, taking in the various alien equipment and devices. Microscope, biochemical analyzer, centrifuge, incubator… Flasks of chemicals have been set on a table off to the side, and his eyes scan the labels, trying to form a complete picture by piecing together what he has heard and what he’s seeing.

“Doctor, a little help here. “ Rose’s voice stirs him from his musings. She has finished freeing the captive from the straps, but is now looking dubiously at the tubes inserted into the man’s body. “I’m not sure if I can just yank those off.”

He’s about to answer her when the front door opens and closes rapidly, and another of the aliens comes rushing into the room, his arms full of empty glass beakers. He freezes when he sees them, and in his surprise his grip slackens, a beaker falling and shattering loudly on the ground.

Before either the Doctor or Rose can react, the sound of footsteps rush in from upstairs, and four Drazfins come hurtling down the stairs.

“Kaf, what happen – oh!”

They all stop on the stairs momentarily, surprised, before the tallest of them advances on them menacingly, pushing the others out of the way.

“Who are you? How did you find us?” he asks in an authoritative voice.

‘Ah, hello to you, too. I’m the Doctor, and this is Rose. What’s your name?”

“I ask the questions here. _How did you find us_?”

“Well, your ship leaves quite the unique energy signature, on this planet especially. Granted, you tried to hide it, but not well enough, I fear.”

At his words, the alien addressing them – clearly the _boss_ they had mentioned before – turns to the one that has just entered the house, wide-eyed and hands still full of glassware.

“Kafazn, I thought you told me no one could track us,“ he growls. The Drazfin in question flinches, shaking visibly in fear.

“I – I – they shouldn’t have been able to, I swear, I –“

“Ah, no, don’t blame him, it’s not his fault,” the Doctor assures soothingly. “I’m just really, _really_ good.”

The leader’s head snaps back to him, eyes narrowed.

“Oh, are you? Not good enough to know when to avoid trouble, apparently.”

The Doctor hums in agreement. “No, never could master that particular skill. It makes for an interesting life, however. Rarely a dull moment. Look at right now, for example. I never would have expected to find an alien biogenetics lab in an old abandoned house in Yorkshire. Tell me, are you having any success replicating the natural immunity of humans to the pathogen you’re currently suffering from?”

A stunned silence greets this declaration. Rose is grinning at him, amusement in her eyes. He gives her a wide smile in return, waiting for the aliens to react. He notices one of them is looking oddly at his companion – Firzian or Czif, one of the females – but before he has time to ponder this, the leader recovers from his surprise.

“How do you know that?”

“It’s quite obvious, really, when one pays attention. The lab equipment, the human test subject. And then the chemicals, clear antiviral agents: synthetic ribozyme, receptor antagonist, protease inhibitor, to name only a few.”

He pauses a moment, enjoying the effect of his words on the Drazfins assembled before him. They are all silent - he has astonished them anew - so he continues.

“Also, taking a good look at you, you all appear a little… sick. No offense. Now,” he adds, clapping his hands, “you can keep going as you currently are – getting progressively sicker as you perform tests on this human boy – or you can let me help you, and get this done much more quickly and efficiently.”

The leader’s jaw works silently, as if he wants to say something but doesn’t quite know what. The other four Drazfins look at each other, uncertain, not daring to speak. Even Rose seems gobsmacked by this particular declaration of his.

“Well, what do you say? This is a rather good offer, if I do say so myself.”

This finally gets the leader speaking.

“Why would you help us?”

“Oh, I’m just generally nice. I don’t like seeing people suffer. I can help you and that poor boy all at once, and we can all go our separate ways.”

The tall Drazfin considers this for a moment, turning to look at his four companions. He finally turns back towards the Doctor, uncertainty written all over his face.

“We need to discuss this. Ariz, bring them to the cage, and guard them.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ariz takes the gun strapped around his back and motions with it towards the corridor. The Doctor places his hand on the small of Rose’s back, intimating that she should follow without resistance as they are lead into another room at the back of the house.

Inside is another cage, similar to the one he had seen in that building where he found Rose, only smaller. _Probably didn’t have time to pack the other one up before leaving_ , he thinks wryly.

They get in the cage, and Ariz locks it after them, making sure it is secure before stepping back a few paces, watching them.

The Doctor settles down next to Rose, smiling at the look she gives him, which clearly says _you always get us locked up, Doctor._

 _Well_ , he muses. _It isn’t a very good adventure if I don’t get imprisoned at least once._


	5. Chapter 5

Even though she is more amused than annoyed at being locked up with the Doctor, she can’t resist shooting him a dirty look. It had happened so often before, with both versions of him, that she had been convinced at the time that he actually enjoyed it. When the Doctor smirks back at her, clearly unbothered, Rose rolls her eyes but cannot contain a smile of amusement. He _is_ enjoying this. She knew it. She really shouldn’t have expected this Doctor to be any different from the two versions she knows.

She settles down on the ground for the wait, and he sits down next to her a few moments later. He seems lost in thought, so she stays quiet, closes her eyes, and tries to formulate a plan. Not that she doesn’t trust the Doctor’s plan, but… it can never hurt to have a back-up strategy. Her reflections are abruptly cut short when she feels the Doctor reach for her hand, intertwine their fingers and lightly stroke her skin. Her eyes fly open. He is still staring into space, probably not even conscious of the gesture, but she still can’t help the way her heart beats faster at his touch. Her mind reverts back to that moment in the basement, when he held her to him. Her rational mind has been telling her ever since that he was simply preventing her from falling, but… didn’t he hold her a second too long?

She recalls the feeling of his breath on her neck, and her body tingles anew. The ghost of his arms encircling her effortlessly still lingers on her skin, and she feels herself start to flush at the thought. She is attracted to him, there is no use denying that. She furtively glances at him, eyeing his brown curls, his strikingly handsome features. Yes, there is definite physical attraction.

But… is that the only thing she feels? She thinks about his enthusiasm at the prospect of adventure, his animation when he described his previous encounter with the Drazfins, the affection he showed towards the TARDIS. His wry humour, his intelligence, and the confident, smooth way he talked the Drazfins into doing exactly what he wanted them to.

Oh God. She is falling for him. For who he is now, not because of who he will become.

The realization crashes over her in an instant of insight and threatens to overwhelm her. She feels like she is about to burst, and she has the inexplicable urge to run away, or laugh hysterically, or grab the Doctor and snog him senseless. She certainly can’t sit still a moment longer with him inches from her, still lightly stroking her hands. It’s too much to bear.

She is saved by the arrival of a Drazfin striding in. She recognizes him as the leader of the group. Even though they are all tall, he is the most imposing of them, with thick, powerful limbs, his skin a darker shade of blue. She rises when she sees him enter the room, thankful for the distraction. His cold, calculating reptilian eyes remind her of a viper about to strike as he stops to appraise them.

“Ariz, open the cage,” he addresses the guard abruptly, watching as he executes his order. “You, Doctor. We’ll give you a chance to prove yourself. Come with me.”

“With pleasure,” he answers as he gets to his feet and walks to the door of their prison. Rose moves to follow, but the leader stops her.

“Not, not you. You’re staying in here.”

The Doctor halts before leaving the cage, looking at the Drazfin with suspicion in his eyes.

“May I ask why? Rose can help, too.”

“She’ll stay in the cage, to make sure you behave.”

His eyes narrow at his words.

“There’s no need for anything of the sort. I give you my word.”

“That doesn’t mean much to me, Doctor. I’d rather have a more… solid guarantee of your cooperation.”

“If you mistreat her…” he warns, leaving his threat unspoken.

“We won’t. She’ll just stay here while you work. Now, come.”

The Doctor turns back towards Rose, uncertain. She reaches for his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“It’s alright, Doctor. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. Just… go and impress them with your genius, yeah?”

He gives her a small smile and nods hesitatingly before finally walking out of the cage, which the guard immediately locks again.

Rose watches the Doctor disappear around the corner, escorted by the Drazfin leader. She has to wait again, then. And she has the feeling this will take a lot longer than the last time. Well, at least this will give her time to think about the feelings she has just discovered, and…

And nothing. There’s nothing to contemplate here. He is the Doctor, and she loves him. Of course she does. She suspects that if she were to meet every single version of him, past or future, she would love them all.

But… she can’t lie to herself, not every version of the Doctor would love her. One very simple reason for that is that they wouldn’t know her. She would be a complete stranger, an uninteresting, ordinary human girl. And this version of him is no different. He doesn’t know her. They haven’t traveled together, haven’t shared exciting adventures or kept each other’s company in quiet moments. They haven’t saved each other from life-threatening danger. They just haven’t forged that connection she has with the other two Doctors. She can’t make him fall in love with her. She has to get this into her head, and learn to control herself. He’s her only chance of getting back where she belongs.

And it’s not as though she hasn’t had practice repressing her feelings for him in the past.

At some point in her musings she has started pacing, but now she sinks back down to the ground in a huff. There’s nothing she can do about any of this now. She can only wait. She closes her eyes and tries to relax, but she feels restless. Who knows how long she will have to wait before that cure is complete? After that inner emotional storm, her mind can’t calm down, and she feels like she can’t just sit here all this time, alone, doing nothing.

 _Well, not quite alone_ , she thinks, opening her eyes to see the alien guard sitting on the ground, a bored expression on his face. She smiles as she remembers an adventure with her first Doctor and Jack, a long time ago. She had never gotten around to seducing the guard that day, and she doesn’t really want to do so now, but maybe befriending him wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

She clears her throat to get his attention, and gives him her best smile.

“Hi, Ariz, is it? I’m Rose. Nice to meet you!”

The guard shifts nervously at being addressed. He looks over his shoulder towards the doorway for a second, then back towards her.

“I – I probably shouldn’t be talking to you.”

“Well, what harm can it do? Here I am, all locked up, and here you are, forced to watch me with nothing else to do, for god knows how long,” she argues. “Talking would help pass the time for both of us, at least.”

“Well, I – I don’t know…”

“If it makes you feel any better, we don’t need to talk about anything related to what’s happening here. We could talk about, um… Oh, I know! Tell me about your world. I’m sure that’s not top secret, is it?”

Ariz gives a nervous laugh at her words.

“No, I mean – I guess not… What do you want to know?”

“Anything, really. I’m interested in where you come from, that’s all. I just love visiting alien planets, learning about other cultures… meeting new people. Don’t you?”

“I don’t know,” he replies, shrugging. “I haven’t really had a chance to try. My people, we don’t travel a lot.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. I used to be like that too, you know. Same old routine, every day. But then I met the Doctor, and he brought me to all sorts of wonderful places.”

“Like what?” She seems to have piqued his interest as he is leans forward, all nervousness forgotten.

“Oh, I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe!” She pauses, searching for the most impressive planets she has visited. She feels a rush of enthusiasm engulf her as some of her favorite memories of her travels with the Doctor resurface, for once untainted by nostalgia and sadness.

“For instance… Imagine a world where the sea just froze in an instant, in the middle of a storm. Imagine walking on water turned to ice as far as the eye can see, underneath giant waves that will never crash down again…”

And she talks and talks, about the different places she visited, the different people she met. Ariz soon becomes enthralled by her stories, listening with rapt attention. He has an inquisitive mind, asking a myriad of questions about their adventures, his strange slitted eyes widening in wonder at her answers. His interest fuels her enthusiasm, too, as she gets carried away in her storytelling. It becomes less about befriending the guard, and more about sharing her experiences with him as she starts to genuinely enjoy his company.

She has just finished telling him about New Earth, applegrass and flying cars, and there is a lull in the conversation as she searches her memories for another interesting story to tell. Raxacoricofallapatorius, maybe? Or –

“You’re lucky.” Ariz’s voice interrupts her contemplation. “I’ll never get to visit all of these places, lead the kind of life you do.”

 _Did_ , she corrects silently with a pang. “Well, why not?”

“In my world, we’re not free to do as we like. We’re all assigned a role, and we have to do as our faction tells us.”

“You don’t have any liberty or freedom of choice?” she asks, feeling indignant. She’s also surprised. Didn’t the Doctor say the Drazfins were a peaceful people? Surely he would have mentioned something like dictatorship over the entire population.

“Over certain things, yes. But we have to obey orders. It’s easier this way, I guess, for everyone. More organized.” He sounds uncertain, as if trying to convince himself. For Rose, this revelation explains something she had started to wonder about: why would a curious and kind man like Ariz be part of a team that abducts innocent people and experiments on them.

“Oh, so that’s why you’re here. You were ordered to be.”

“Yes,” he confirms in an unhappy tone. “They chose me because I am one of the least sick amongst my people. I’m just a normal soldier back home.”

“Well, look on the bright side. You got to visit another world: planet Earth!” she says, smiling gently. “I’m only sorry it’s not as interesting as some of the places I’ve told you about…”

“I like it though. From what I’ve seen, it seems nice. I only wish I could have come here under better circumstances.” He gives her a sad smile, and she feels the sudden need to comfort him.

“But think about it, though. When the Doctor completes the cure – and trust me, he will – you get to come back home a hero. Everyone will be saved thanks to you and the rest of your team.”

She expects him to cheer up at her words, but to her surprise they have the opposite effect.

“Not everyone,” he replies darkly, staring at the ground. “A lot of people will still die.”

“What? Why?”

He is silent for a long moment, and Rose gently calls his name. He raises his eyes to her, and she is struck by the sadness shining from them.

“On my planet, peace has always been… fragile between the three factions. And it got worse when people started getting sick. The leaders of my faction… when we come back, they won’t share the cure with the other two. Or maybe they will, for a very high price, after the others have lost enough people and resources. This disease, that’s killing my entire species… They only see it as their chance to take power.”

\----------

As the Doctor is escorted back to the living-room-turned-laboratory, he tries to let go of his anxiety at leaving Rose alone in that cage. Sure, the leader has promised that no harm would come to her, but he’s not so sure he can trust his word. After all, they have already shot her once… what is stopping them from doing so again while he is away working for them, ignorant of what they have done?

He knows it’s probably unfair to the Drazfins to think that, but if they don’t trust him, why should he trust them? They seem very different from the species he met in his own universe. Did something happen to make them deviate from the path of peace and prosperity they were on?

He shakes himself mentally to get rid of these thoughts. It’s of no use thinking about this. If he can’t trust the Drazfins, he should at least trust in Rose. She will find a way to keep herself safe while he is gone.

But he can’t keep the image of her body lying on the ground of that warehouse from entering his mind. She had been so pale, so still. The complete opposite of the lively woman he now knows. Her laughter and her smiles have already become so dear to him, he couldn’t bear it if he lost them now.

He steels his resolve as they reach their destination. He doesn’t really have a choice at the moment, but he will try to think of a way to ensure her safety.

The other Drazfins are there – two of them huddled together over a monitor, the other sitting at the foot of the staircase, idly examining the gun in her hand. All three look up as they enter, their gazes lingering on the Doctor before turning to their leader when he starts speaking.

"Right, Doctor," he says. "As I said, we will give you a chance to prove yourself. Kafazn and Czifiran will bring you up to date, explain what's been discovered and attempted so far. I will come back in a few hours to see how everything is going. If they tell me no progress has been done..."

He pauses, letting his unspoken threat linger in the air for a few moments.

"Firzian will stand guard, so don't try to be clever and escape. You’d do well to remember that we have your mate in the cage, with Ariz standing guard."

"Yes, yes, very well,” he answers impatiently, before realizing what has just been implied about his relationship with Rose. His first instinct is to correct it, but he stops himself. He will just let them think what they will. Maybe he can find a way to turn it to his advantage.

“Dzarn, about the capsules…” Czifiran pipes up hesitatingly before the leader – _Dzarn, so that’s him name_ – can turn away. “It was time for Kaf and me to take one, so I was wondering…”

“You know we don’t have enough anymore to keep to the usual schedule. We’ll all have to delay intake by a few hours between each dose, now.”

“But… if we do that we’ll get too weak to work,” argues Kafazn. “You _know_ how it is to be off dose –“

“Look, what do you want me to say?” Dzarn snaps back, irritated. “You guys are the ones that didn’t pack up the capsules when we left! We’ll just have to deal with it!”

With those words he turns on his heels and walks up the stairs, barking at Firzian to keep her eyes open when he passes by her.

The Doctor watches with relief as Dzarn disappears down a corridor at the top of the stairs. He won’t be making friends with this one. But maybe it’s a good thing, he thinks as he sees uncertainty, fear and irritation playing in the eyes of Kafazn and Czifiran and directed at their leader. _That_ can also work to his advantage.

He steps towards them, a warm smile on his face, and claps his hands eagerly.

“I take it you’re the scientists here?” he asks, addressing them both.

They look at each other nervously before Kafazn nudges Czifiran forward.

“Yes, we are,” she answers. “I’m Czif – Czifiran – and this is Kafazn.”

“Call me Kaf,” the Drazfin pipes up.

“Czif, Kaf, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Now, why don’t you catch me up on what you’ve been doing?”

They spend the better part of the next hour discussing the illness, its symptoms and its progression. They inform him that it is of unknown origin, although it is presumed to be from an unidentified off-world visitor. The moment they first discovered the infection, it was already too late, having spread to the entire population like wildfire.

They explain that the first symptoms are rather mild, mostly weakness and fatigue, which is the stage at which the members of this expedition are. They are followed by fever, nausea and muscle pain, from which they progress to cardiac and respiratory problems, followed by a complete annihilation of the immune system. Then, if the patient has not already died from those symptoms, dementia sets in. The progression rate of the disease varies in everyone, but so far, no one has been able to escape it.

They describe how the pathogen was first identified, show him the results of all the experiments done on it, all of their failed attempts to cure the infection. They have not been successful in eradicating it, but they did come up with a way of slowing down its progression and reducing the symptoms – a specific blend of chemicals that has been encapsulated for daily dosage.

This is what they now have to ration.

They pour over test results together, and while at first the two scientists were clearly nervous in his presence, they are soon talking with enthusiasm, eager to share their knowledge. The Doctor’s interest is quickly caught, as it always is in scientific discussion, and soon he is engrossed in their work.

They bounce ideas off each other for the next few hours, discussing new approaches as they prepare cell lines and mix chemicals. The Drazfins being admittedly better at handling these delicate tasks, their long fingers and fluid movements allowing them unparalleled precision, the Doctor leaves them to it as he runs simulations and works on potential new theories. They get their first exciting breakthrough from one of the Doctor’s suggested experiments: the pathogen has reacted to a mix of chemicals and radiation in a way they had never seen before. This success in the span of a few hours only is more than the Drazfins had ever achieved, and causes the interactions between the two scientists and the Doctor to shift. In their eyes, he is no longer a prisoner, but an authority, to be listened to and respected.

The enthusiasm that spreads after that discovery reaches even Firzian, the Drazfin keeping guard. When the Doctor asks her if he can examine the human captive still strapped to the table to ensure his well-being, she agrees without a single objection.

The human is still unconscious, and appears weaker than before. Frowning, he discreetly runs the sonic screwdriver over his body. He quickly hides it again when he notices Kaf approaching him.

“Is he alright?” he asks.

“For the moment, yes. It would be wise to get him to a hospital, however, as soon as possible. Since you no longer need him here, do you think it could be done?”

“We would have to ask Dzarn. He’s the one in charge.”

“Yes, I had that impression. He seems like a very pleasant fellow.”

Kaf fidgets nervously, looking towards the stairs.

“Well, he’s, um – he has a job to do, that’s all.”

“Yes, a job of kidnapping innocent people and putting them in cages. Tell me, why didn’t you use diplomatic channels? I’m sure UNIT would have helped you in the face of such a widespread disease.”

“It’s not my place to decide those things,” he replies, shaking his head. “I’m sorry we had to imprison humans, though. I – I didn’t like it, but I had to obey orders. And we thought we needed them, to find the cure.”

He is silent for a moment as he watches the Doctor check the man’s vital signs again. He glances over to Firzian, who is sitting on the stairs, and towards Czif, who is staring at the monitor in deep concentration, before turning back to the Doctor.

“Your friend, Rose,” he whispers. “Is she… Is she human?”

“Yes, of course,” he answers, looking at him in surprise. “Why do you ask?”

“She was shot by Firzian, back where we were before. I know, I was there. Rose stunned Czif and I ducked into a room, but Firz was able to take her by surprise and shoot her.”

“Yes, I know, Rose told me.” He frowns, a feeling of dread washing over him, images of her lying on the ground appearing in his mind again. This is not something he needs to dwell on. “Why are you telling me this?”

“The weapon she was shot with… It’s deadly. We’ve never encountered a species who could survive it before. And certainly not humans.” Kaf pauses, looking away uneasily.

“Doctor, your friend should be dead.”


	6. Chapter 6

_“The weapon she was shot with… It’s deadly. We’ve never encountered a species who could survive it before. And certainly not humans.” Kaf pauses, looking away uneasily._

_“Doctor, your friend should be dead.”_

\-----

The Doctor could swear one of his hearts freezes in his chest at these words. He stills, a wave of dread washing over him, as he tries to make sense of the words he has just heard. Rose should be dead. The image of her lying on the floor, looking lifeless, refuses to leave his mind. She looked dead. He had thought she was dead, when he first saw her body. _She should be dead_.

“Are you sure about this?” he asks, his voice low and strained. “Absolutely, completely certain?”

“Yes, of course I am. I know what our own guns do. They’re energy blasters, made to kill. And she was hit, I know she was, I ran past her – her body when we tried to catch the other prisoners…“

He almost growls at the word _body_ , and Kaf flinches, looking down uncomfortably. The Doctor closes his eyes, trying to regain control of his temper. There has to be an explanation for this. Rose could tell him, he has to see her, Rose would know…

“Kaf, I need to – “

He falls silent as he hears the sound of footsteps from above, and seconds later Dzarn appears at the top of the staircase. Kaf steps quickly away from him, pretending to busy himself at a desk while the leader walks slowly down the stairs.

“Alright, tell me what’s been done,” Dzarn orders as he reaches the foot of the staircase. “Czifiran?”

“We’ve made some good progress,” she answers nervously. “We explained everything to the Doctor, and he had some interesting suggestions. One of his ideas gave a very promising result: the pathogen regressed in cell cultures when submitted to a mix of carbon ions and beta particles in the presence of acidic Treflazin – “

“Spare me the technical jargon, please,” he cuts her off impatiently. “So, what you’re saying is he’s not completely useless?”

“No. He’s been very helpful.”

“Has he tried anything suspicious?” he asks, addressing Firzian.

“No, sir. He’s been behaving.”

“Yes, I’ve been a good little boy, as promised. Now can we please move on from the unnecessary display of brutish authority?” the Doctor snaps, irritated. Still reeling from the shock of Kaf’s words, he’s not feeling particularly inclined to be patient, at the moment.

The only thing he wants is to get back to Rose. He needs to see her again, to reassure his frayed nerves that she is alive and well. And then… Then he will finally get some answers from her.

Dzarn turns towards him then, a sneer on his face.

“Keep quiet, Doctor. You’d do well to remember that you’re a prisoner here, and act like one. Don’t test my patience.”

“You’re making me lose mine,” the Doctor mutters. Louder, he adds, “Look, I know you need me, so stop trying to pretend otherwise. It grows tiring.”

“Fine, do what you’re _needed_ for, then, and get back to work,” he snaps back. He notices Czif and Kaf sharing a dubious look, and he clenches his jaw. “ _What_?”

“Well… we really need to rest, Kaf and me,” she pleads. “It’s been a while since we last slept, and it’s been a long and stressful day. We’re getting too tired to work properly. I was just about to come up and tell you. We’ll only make mistakes if we keep this up.”

The leader seems to hesitate for a moment, and the Doctor senses the opportunity. They don’t know who he is; they don’t know he can go days without feeling the need to sleep. This is his chance.

“Yes, I agree. We should stop for the day. I need rest as well.”

“You, don’t start!” Dzarn barks, glaring at him.

“But it’s true. I’m not human. My species has a rather small solar cycle, compared to Earth. I need to rest frequently, for a few hours at a time.”

That seems to attract their attention.

“You’re not human?” Kaf exclaims, surprised.

“No, I’m not. See?” He takes hold of the scientist’s slim hand and places it over his chest, letting him feel his double heartbeat. The Drazfin’s dark slitted eyes open wide in astonishment.

“Two hearts,” he whispers, amazed.

Dzarn is watching the scene with increasing irritation mixed with grudging interest. “Alright, that’s enough,” he finally orders. “Alright, you win. You can all go to sleep. It’ll be more efficient like this, anyway, all three of you working and resting at the same time. Czif, Kaf, go upstairs. Doctor, back in the cage.” The Doctor pays little attention to the provocative sneer in the leader’s voice. This is exactly what he wanted. Get to Rose. He needs to see her, _now_.

“Firzian, are you fine to keep watch by yourself?”

“Yes, I’m alright. I took a nap earlier today.”

“Yes, I remember. That’s why no one was watching those prisoners,” he retorts, irritated. “No matter. Make sure everything stays quiet. You hear anything suspicious out there, let me know.”

She nods, and the Doctor follows Dzarn down the corridor as Kaf and Czif disappear upstairs.

When they reach the cage room, the leader stops to talk to the guard there, but the Doctor only has eyes for the woman in front of him. Rose gets to her feet in her prison as they walk in, her eyes immediately focusing on his from across the room. She offers him a wide smile as he stares at her, the lovely one with her tongue poking out, and he can finally breathe a little better. She’s here, she’s safe, she’s _alive_.

“Get in there.” The commanding voice snaps him out of his reverie. The guard has left, and Dzarn is pointing to the inside of the open cage with the muzzle of a gun.

“Alright, no need to get touchy.”

He steps inside the cage, and immediately Rose walks up to him and throws her arms around him in a hug, her face pressed to his neck. He returns it eagerly, wrapping her in his embrace, relishing in the thud of her heart against his chest, the feeling of her breath against his skin. She lets go to look into his eyes questioningly.

“Doctor, what – “

“There will be no talking,” Dzarn cuts her off. He has closed the cage and locked it again, and now stands watching them a few feet from the bars. “You are here to sleep, so _sleep_.”

The Doctor sighs in exasperation. He needs to talk to Rose. It’s not enough to see her, he needs to _know_ what happened to her. The thought that she could have died before he ever knew her will haunt him until he does.

There’s one possibility, though, he suddenly realizes. One way to communicate without the Drazfin being aware of it.

  1. She’s telepathic.



He sits down on the floor, and motions to Rose to do the same. She settles down next to him, although too far to be touching him. This is awkward. How should he go about doing this? She’s an untrained telepath, by all appearances, and it would certainly be better if she knew what he was about to do. It would also help if he could establish this first contact through a touch to her temple. But how can he do so naturally, in a way that won’t rouse Dzarn’s suspicions?

 _Oh_. Of course.

He thinks she’s his mate, after all.

He touches Rose’s shoulder to get her attention, and opens his arms wide when she turns to look at him. He motions for her to come, trying not to appear nervous. Will she understand his intentions? Has she done this before, with a future version of him? The telepathy, and… the snuggling?

He can see the moment she realizes what he wants her to do, the look in her eyes changing from confusion to surprise. She stares hesitatingly at him for a moment before scooting over towards him. She turns around into his embrace, settling sideways between his legs, her head pressed on his chest. He wraps his arms around her, carefully positioning a hand over her temple. Does she know what he’s about to do? He tries to cast aside all doubts as he prepares to open a link between them. Dzarn’s voice stops him, breaking his concentration.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The Doctor curses mentally. Surely the Drazfin doesn’t know about their telepathic abilities? They’re not a telepathic race, are they? No, certainly not.

“I’m simply holding my mate,” he lies smoothly. “It helps me sleep. You won’t refuse me that, at least?”

He can hear Rose inhale sharply at his words, and he tightens his arms around her to warn her against showing any reaction. Dzarn is still watching them closely, indecisive.

“Look, I’ll sleep better if I can hold her, and I’ll work better if I’m well rested. That’s the only important thing to you, isn’t it?”

“Fine,” he concedes. “But don’t think you can try to talk in whispers. I’ll be listening.”

“Don’t worry. You can stare at my lips all you want, you won’t see them move.”

Dismissing the disagreeable man from his thoughts, the Doctor lays his head against the wall and closes his eyes, relaxing his hold on Rose. One of his arms lies across her back, his hand coming up to curl around her shoulder. The other rests on the side of her face, his fingers lightly touching her temple. He takes a moment to prepare himself, strengthening his mental shields. He’s not sure what to expect. A telepathic human is unheard of, and he doesn’t intend to establish a strong connection, communication necessitating only a superficial link, but judging by her intense and uncontrolled projections from earlier in the day, he thinks it wise to leave most of his defenses up. Taking a deep breath, he gently enters her mind.

The sensations that immediately assault him send him reeling in surprise.

Her mind is… incredible. He is only at the outskirts, and already he is blown away by the feeling of her. She is blinding light, fiery warmth, and strangely familiar, and like a moth to a flame he feels irresistibly drawn closer to her.

He could lose himself in her so easily, and the thought is strangely much more enticing than it is frightening.

Distantly, he feels Rose stiffen in his arms at the sensation of a foreign presence in her mind. It recalls him to himself, and he moves the arm on her shoulder to gently stroke her back in a soothing motion. He’s here without her consent, he has to remember that, he has to…

Her presence enthralls him, and he struggles to regain some control of himself. He can sense her about to speak out loud in surprise, and it is finally enough to pull him away from her compelling aura.

“ _Rose_ ,” he whispers in her mind. “ _Don’t worry_ , _it’s me, it’s only me. Don’t make a sound, please._ ”

She complies, relaxing slightly in his arms, but her breathing is still shallow, her heartbeat hammering wildly against his chest.

“ _I’m sorry I had to do this without asking you first, but I_ had _to talk to you. And with Dzarn watching us…_ ”

He waits a few moments for an answer that doesn’t come. He senses her thoughts whirling through her mind, frantic and confused, but she still stays silent through their link.

“ _Rose? Are you alright? Talk to me, please?_ ”

“ _Doctor_?” she whispers timidly.

“ _Yes, hello._ _Are you alright_?”

“ _Yeah, I’m… What – How are you doing this?_ ”

“ _Through a telepathic link._ _I’m a touch telepath._ ”

“ _Yeah, I know, but I – I’m not…_ ”

“ _Telepathic? Yes, you are. Weren’t you aware of that?_ ”

“ _No, I’m not, though. You – you would have told me, before, I’m sure you would. You never mentioned anything like that._ ”

“ _Strange. Could it have developed recently? As far as I know, telepathy is an inborn trait, not an acquired one… Or maybe I’m just a rubbish telepath in my future bodies, and I didn’t mention_ your _telepathy in order to not embarrass myself._ ”

His words trigger flashes of memories in her mind. He tries not to look, but he can’t help the glimpses he catches – a fireplace, clockwork droids, a courtesan, and – is this France?

“ _No, he was telepathic too. I mean, you will be. Believe me, I know._ ” She sounds somewhat annoyed at the memory, but before he can ask her about it she is speaking again.

“ _Wait… how did you know I was telepathic, exactly_?”

“ _I could tell immediately, when you woke up. You were projecting rather strongly._ ”

“ _Projecting?_ ”

“ _Emotions, mainly._ _Some thoughts, as well…_ ”

“ _Oh God._ _You’re reading my thoughts?_ ” He feels her attempts to pull away in alarm, but he keeps her firmly in place, scrambling to clarify his words.

“ _No, no, no, don’t worry, I haven’t been listening in on you. I shielded myself from your projections the moment I perceived them. I respected your privacy._ ”

That isn’t the absolute truth. He had put on defenses to avoid being overwhelmed by her overflowing emotions. He has also dropped them briefly to do exactly what she fears – listening in – but simply as an assurance of her honesty, to know that he could trust her. He feels slightly guilty now that he reflects back on it, but he had deemed it necessary at the time. No point in telling her that now, however.

“ _Oh. Oh good. That’s… good._ _Thank you._ ” He feels Rose relax once more, settling back into his embrace. They stay silent for a while as she adjusts to the telepathic connection between them, her presence in his mind gradually growing calmer as time passes.

“ _Your mind is… incredible,_ ” she whispers in awe.

“ _I could say the same about yours._ ”

“ _No, no way. Your mind is so… vast. It’s a whirlwind of knowledge, of experience, and yet it feels so… gentle. I can’t explain it. It’s amazing._ ”

He senses her exploring their link in curiosity, inadvertently entangling their minds further. The feeling makes him breathless. He stays silent, revelling in the connection between them, and after a beat she speaks again.

“ _Doctor?_ _I found out something I thought you might like to know._ ”

“ _Yes?_ ”

“ _I was talking with Ariz while you were away –_ “

“ _Who’s_ _Ariz_ _? The guard?”_

“ _Yes. He’s actually rather nice. I was surprised, I expected – oh, I don’t know, an unfeeling, aggressive alien. You know, since he’s been abducting and caging up people. But that’s not who he is._ ”

“ _Yes, I believe you. The scientists aren’t like that, either. Only their leader is, apparently._ ” At the mention of that particular Drazfin, he is reminded of his presence in the room with them. He opens his eyes by a fraction to see him leaning against the doorframe, watching them through the dim light of the room with a dark and mistrustful expression. He closes his eyes again.

“ _Speaking of him,_ _he is still watching us, by the way. Try not to have any physical reaction to our conversation._ ”

“ _Yeah, okay_ ,” she agrees distractedly. “ _Doctor, these Drazfins seem… very different from those you encountered before._ ”

“ _Yes, I came to that same conclusion myself. What clued you in?_ ”

“ _Well, as I started saying earlier… Ariz told me about this war, on their home planet. Three factions fighting one another for years, interspersed only by brief and unstable periods of peace.”_

As much as it pains him to hear this, it doesn’t really surprise him. Dzarn does seem to be rather… military in his manners.

“ _Ah... Yes, that is undeniably different. Do you know what caused it?_ ”

“ _No, he didn’t say. Just…Doctor, this cure… Ariz told me the leaders of his faction don’t want it to heal everybody. They want it for power over the other two._ ”

“ _What?_ ”

To say that he _is_ surprised this time is an understatement. All of the work he had done, it was all for something like this? For domination over others?

He feels ire rise inside of him. They all _lied_ to him. _Everyone on our planet is dying_ , they said. _Help us save our race_. The reality is entirely different. He is helping them win power, and leave the majority of the population to suffer.

“ _This is… horrible!_ ”

“ _Yeah, I agree. We’re not going to let that happen though, are we? We could take the TARDIS to their planet once you find the cure, and distribute it to everyone there, don’t you think?_ ”

He sighs, annoyed. She’s right, of course, but that means he will work with the Czif and Kaf again in a few hours, pretending everything is fine, and that he doesn’t know of their despicable plan.

“ _Yes. Yes, you’re right, we should. It’s just… I’m having trouble believing it of Czif and Kaf. They both seemed so kind, so passionate about their work._ ”

“ _Well, they might not be to blame,_ ” Rose offers thoughtfully. “ _They probably don’t agree, or they might not even know about it. Ariz told me that on his planet, they don’t get to decide what they are, what they do... They just follow the orders of their leaders. It doesn’t excuse everything, of course, but… not everyone can be a hero on their own, you know?_ ”

 _Not like you_ are the unspoken words lingering at the end of her statement, and he’s grateful for the sentiment. He has to admit she has a point, even if he is still angry over her revelation.

“ _You’re right,_ ” he concedes. “ _They didn’t have much of a choice, I imagine. Maybe, if given one… they would not let their people die._ ”

“ _Yes_ , _I’m sure,_ ” she replies. “ _You know what, I’ll talk to Ariz tomorrow. He can help us figure out what to do. He seemed devastated by the situation._ ”

He hums his agreement, and they fall silent for a moment. He is still trying to erase the last of his anger as Rose speaks up again.

 _“Doctor, don’t you think… we could try to help, too, with the situation on their planet, I mean? Try to bring back peace? There’s no point curing them only to let them die in a war, don’t you think?_ ”

Her words fill him with unexpected warmth. What an amazing woman, able to show compassion and understanding even for a race that has imprisoned her and shown little regard for other human beings.

“ _Yes, of course,_ ” he assures her. He drops his cheek to the top of her head, hiding the smile forming on his mouth. He takes a deep breath, inhaling her scent as the last of his anger finally drifts away.

She shifts slightly in his arms, moving so she fits more snugly against him. Her arms come up to hold him around the waist, her head settling down on top of one of his hearts, and a sigh of contentment escapes him. He shouldn’t need to sleep for another day or two, but he thinks he could probably drift off here and now, with this lovely woman in his arms and in his mind.

Silence settles over them for several minutes. The connection between them is still open, and her presence envelops him in warmth and lulls him into a state of complete relaxation.

“ _Doctor?_ ”

Her voice reaches him faintly through the comfortable haze that has settled over him.

“ _Hmm?_ ”

“ _Didn’t you say you had to talk to me about something, before?_ ”

The reminder cuts through him like a blade. How could he have forgotten? The shining presence he is currently enjoying in his mind shouldn’t exist anymore. It should have been cruelly ripped apart in an old dusty building, taken from him before he even knew she existed. _She should be dead._

Rose must have sense his horror and panic at these thoughts, as she grips his waist tighter and attempts to soothe him through their link. It’s useless. His reawakened anxiety can’t be stifled any longer.

“ _Doctor, what is it?_ _What’s the matter?_ ”

“ _Rose, I need to know… Kaf told me something, about you, and about that gun…_ ”

He trails off, unsure how to begin. He wants some answers, wants to finally understand, but now that the time has come… If he’s honest with himself, he’s afraid of what he’ll find.

“ _About the gun?_ _What gun?_ ”

“ _The one you were shot with, in that building where I found you. Rose…_ ”

He takes a moment to choose his words carefully, but there’s really no easy way to say this.

“ _Rose, that gun was no stunner. It’s an energy blaster, meant to kill. Kaf told me you caught a full blast of it, and that you shouldn’t have…_ ”

“ _Shouldn’t have what?_ ” she prompts. He can hear the fear in her voice.

“ _You shouldn’t have survived. No one has ever lived through a full blast of it. Rose, you should be dead._ ” His words come out in a rushed, pained whisper, his attempts to deliver the news calmly to her utterly pointless.

She completely freezes at his words. She stays silent for a long moment, and he can feel the tension in her body, the chaos in her mind, confusion, fear and incredulity mixing and warring for dominance. He catches glimpses of jumbled thoughts as she recalls the dash through the corridor, the flash of fear as she hears the shot she hadn’t seen coming, the pain of the energy wave surging through her body.

When she speaks again, it is in a small, uncertain voice.

“ _But… I don’t understand. I’m not dead, you can see that for yourself. I’m not_ dead _._ ”

“ _I know._ ” He takes a deep breath, forcing himself to regain some composure.

“ _Then… Then what does it mean?_ ”

“ _I was hoping you could tell me._ ”

“ _What? How?_ ” she asks, upset. “ _How should I know why I didn’t_ die _today?_ ”

“ _There_ must _be something you can tell me. And it’s not just this… It’s your telepathy, and your hidden timeline – It’s all very unusual. Think back, try to remember… Something that happened this morning, or yesterday, or even further back. Something that could have affected you.”_

“ _I don’t know!_ ” She sounds panicked, confused, and he realizes how poorly he is helping her through this. She needs to be comforted, not pushed.

He presses his head closer to the top of her head, nuzzling her hair, letting the hand resting across her back drop to her waist, encircling her tightly. He lowers his mental shields, letting reassurance and warmth flow over to her. After a while her frenzied mind calms down, soothed by his. They are silent for a long moment, both of them lost in thoughts. Rose suddenly inhales sharply, her body tensing once more.

“ _Doctor, I think that – well, there was one thing that happened, a while ago. It was… definitely unique. But I’m not sure if it could have caused…_ ”

“ _Tell me,_ ” he urges her gently.

“ _I can’t… go into too much detail, alright? There are some things you can’t know, that would be too dangerous if you remembered, so… Don’t ask me questions, please._ ” He hums in assent and she pauses, steeling herself to tell her story, or perhaps figuring out the edited version to tell.

“ _Right... We were facing a powerful enemy, and, well, you thought we couldn’t win. You wanted to keep me safe, and to keep the TARDIS from falling into their hands, so you – you lied to me, you tricked me into the TARDIS. Then you went outside under false pretences, you locked me in, and sent me back home._

As she talks her mind becomes agitated once again, emotions and images leaking to him through their link. At first he tries to shield himself against it, to avoid prying further, but he soon gives in, fascinated by her story. What enemies? How could he take the decision to separate himself from the TARDIS, his oldest friend? Why had he not asked for help from the Time Lords, if the situation was so dire?

He sees flashes of her memories: a large control room in a ship, a man – is that him? – talking animatedly. He watches through her eyes as she rushes to the doors of the TARDIS, the sound of the dematerializing ship whirring loudly. He is overwhelmed by her panic, her despair, her anger.

“ _I wasn’t… very happy about it. I wasn’t about to let you die, all on your own, while I was tucked away safely at home. I was going to do everything I could to get back to you. But… I didn’t know how to pilot the TARDIS, and I didn’t have a whole lot of options, so I – I pried open a panel and looked into her heart._ ”

“ _You did what?_ ” he exclaims, incredulous.

“ _I had seen it happen before, to someone else, another enemy, and you said – you said it had granted her heart’s desire. Well, my heart’s desire was to save you, so I figured it would work._ ”

He is almost shaking under the strain of keeping still. He wants to raise her head up to him, to look her in the eye and shout how foolhardy of an idea this was, or maybe praise her for her courage, for not abandoning him to die. He feels her own emotions intensely as well, her anguish over his fate, her refusal to stand by and let it happen, and another feeling which permeates it all, powerful, warm and all-consuming, directed at him – at his future self, that he can’t quite identify. She speaks again, diverting his attention away.

“ _Things get a bit fuzzy after that. I remember blinding golden light, and singing, in my head… You explained a little what happened, afterwards, but you never really wanted to talk about it. Apparently I – I had the vortex running in my head, and I defeated our enemies with it. It was hurting me, though, so you took it out of me, and… well, that’s it._ ”

He takes a moment to absorb it all as she finishes her story. Her emotions finally quiet down and ebb away, leaving him free to think rationally about this, but all he can feel is awe. This incredible woman risked her life to save his, without the slightest hesitation, and is talking about it as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

He can tell there is much more to her story than what she told him. He knows he isn’t supposed to ask questions, but this… this is _clearly_ not a sufficient explanation.

“ _I took the vortex out of you? How?”_

“ _You never really said._ ”

“ _And… it was all gone? I ran some tests, and made sure it was gone?_ ”

“ _Um, no, you never ran any tests. We were… kinda preoccupied right after that._ ”

This startles him. The Time Vortex is incredibly dangerous, so much so that even Time Lords refrain from experimenting with it. How could he have not examined her thoroughly after what she had done?

“ _What could possibly have been more important than ensuring no part of the vortex remained in you?_ ”

“ _You… you regenerated._ ”

Oh. That… would explain it, yes. Regenerating is always… unpleasant, and he could see how it would push other concerns away. Nonetheless, it was foolish of him to ignore Rose’s safety.

Apparently he will become a foolish man.

He feels himself growing annoyed with both of his future regenerations, the first for sending Rose and the TARDIS away, and the second for not dealing with the consequences. He feels quite certain that this is the explanation for Rose’s remarkable characteristics. The vortex is a chaotic, uncontrollable force, and living with a piece of it inside of oneself… The consequences would undoubtedly be unpredictable. Could it be protecting Rose from harm?

“ _Well, that’s more than likely the cause, but I will definitely need to run some long overdue tests. If you have part of the vortex still within you, it could be…extremely dangerous._ ”

“ _But Doctor… That happened_ years _ago. There’s never been a sign of me being affected by it before now. Do you really think it could have caused this?_ ”

“ _Hmm… Maybe something triggered it recently… I need to think about this._ ”

They fall silent again as he ponders everything he has learned. Taking in the Time Vortex… He is still amazed that Rose would do this for him. He must be an extremely lucky man in the future, to have found such a companion. As ridiculous as it is, he feels a little jealous of his future self.

And speaking of _him_ , where is he? Rose said he _isn’t here right now_ , whatever that means. His future self is pushing his luck a little too far, letting his companion wander into such dangerous situations without him there.

Of course, as it turns out, he _is_ here. But his future self had no way of knowing that.

Besides, whatever happened to Rose must have occurred after they were separated, judging by the fact that he had not noticed any telepathic abilities in her before then. But just how long has he been away, exactly? What is keeping him from returning to her?

Would she tell him if he asks?

“ _Rose?_ ”

She doesn’t answer, and he notices her presence in his mind has dimmed to a low glow, her head resting heavily on his chest. She has fallen asleep, no doubt exhausted by the emotion of the past hour and the strain of the telepathic link on her inexperienced mind.

He withdraws gently from her head, reluctant to leave her comforting presence but unwilling to disturb her sleep. Keeping his arms around her, his eyes still closed, he feigns sleep for Dzarn as he settles for long hours of musings without much hope of answers.


	7. Chapter 7

_She’s back on the Gamestation, just like she wanted, like they both wanted, back to save that amazing man they love. A haunting song plays in her mind as the universe unravels forward and back again in front of her eyes, space and time at transforming into everything and nothing all at once. It is chaotic, and irresistible, and – it hurts. She is burning, burning, but she must do what she can, she must save him, past, present and future, and maybe she can save herself, too. She buries what the TARDIS has offered her deep within herself, so that it remains hidden until the time comes, until this moment that she can see now. There will be pain, but it is the best option, she knows, she has seen every possibility. It has to happen this way. She must –_

_The chaos withdraws with the pain as his lips touch hers, his mind joins hers. The song stops and blackness threatens to engulf her, but her task is done, she knows it is, even though she can’t quite remember… what… it…_

Rose wakes up with a groan, trying to chase the remnants of fragmented dreams. The Gamestation… It has haunted her dreams so often. She is not surprised to have dreamt about it now, when she has just lived through those events again when she was telling the story to -

The Doctor! Rose’s eyes open with a start, awareness of her situation flooding back to her. Her bafflement returns as she remembers the Drazfins, their energy weapon, her newfound telepathy… How could she get hit by that blast, and not die? How did she become telepathic, without being aware of it? _What is going on?_

She pushes herself off the floor, agitated, and freezes when her fingers come into contact not with the cold metal surface of the cage, but with… the Doctor’s coat, laid down beneath her. Her heart swells at this gesture showing his obvious concern for her comfort. She caresses the material before bringing it up to her nose, inhaling deeply. She smiles as his scent assaults her senses, and she immediately feels immediately soothed. Everything will be fine. They just have to see this adventure through, and then they will figure it out, together.

“Rose? Are you alright?”

She turns her head to see Ariz peering at her through the bars of the cage, a look of concern on his face. She smiles at him as she puts the Doctor’s coat on, wrapping herself in the warmth that still lingers there.

“Yeah, I’m fine, thanks. I was just…”

She trails off and shrugs, unsure how to explain her agitation to the Drazfin. She wonders if he knows about her getting shot, and what he thinks of it. In any case, she doesn’t really want to talk about it. She scoots towards the wall, in the same spot where she fell asleep in the Doctor’s arms hours before, and leans back against it.

They are alone in the room, Dzarn and the Doctor both gone. She wonders how long she has slept. She wishes she had stayed awake. There is so much they still need to talk about. But she had been exhausted, the strain of the telepathic link and of all the emotions she had gone through in such a short time taking their toll on her.

Being in his mind, connected to him so profoundly, had been… incredible. His presence was tangible in her head, warm, infinite, icy, tempestuous. And underneath it all she recognized the unchanging essence of the man she loved, the same man despite the different faces. Touching him both physically and mentally had been almost too much for her to handle. She remembers him saying that he was shielding himself from her, to avoid prying into her uncontrolled thoughts and projections. She can’t begin to imagine what it would feel like to be linked to him without any barrier between them.

Shaking her head, she tries to push all thoughts of the telepathic connection away. There is no point in dwelling on it for now. It will only make her yearning for the Doctor’s presence intensify. She looks around the room, her glance going to the windows on one side of the room. The way they are boarded up leaves very little light streaming through them, making it difficult to tell the passing of time. She wonders how long ago the Doctor has left, how long she has been in this cage.

It seems like lifetimes ago that she was observing an old abandoned building with her team, deciding on their best course of action. Since then, she has been shot unconscious, has had the shock of waking up to a past Doctor. She has been locked up and unconscious again. All of this has made her lose all sense of time, and she wonders how much of it has passed since it all started. She wonders what her family thinks, what Jackie has been told. _Your daughter disappeared without a trace while hunting aliens we know absolutely nothing about_? Her mum must be so worried. In retrospect, she regrets not contacting her team, but she knows she wasn’t ready to tell them about the Doctor, then. Honestly, she’s not sure she would be even now, given the chance.

But it probably doesn’t matter. She’s sure it won’t be long until they can get out of here, until the Doctor finishes the cure. She realizes that in the turmoil of their… conversation, she forgot to ask him.

“Ariz? Do you know how the development of the cure is going?”

The Drazfin is sitting against the wall opposite her, looking bored and tired. He raises his head at her words.

“Yes, I was talking to Czif before going to sleep, she said it’s going well. That Doctor of yours, he knows what he’s doing. Czif kept going on about all the insights he had, she was… very impressed.”

The bitter undertone in his words surprises Rose. She studies his face, noticing the tightness of his lips, the way he is avoiding her eyes. The blue of his skin deepens as she looks at him, and she realizes after a moment that this is his race’s version of blushing. The pieces finally fall together and she recognizes the feeling for what it is: jealousy.

Ariz likes Czif, and feels threatened by the Doctor. The revelation astonishes her. In the whirlwind of recent events, her attention has been focused on her own feelings, and the Doctor’s. The relationships between the five Drazfins in this expedition hadn’t come into her thoughts. But of course in a situation such as theirs, alone on an alien planet and relying on each other, feelings are bound to develop. And from what she can tell, Ariz is young, and Czif… Well, she has had little contact with the others, and she makes an effort to remember the female scientist. She recalls a petite young woman, her skin a lovely pale blue, a spark of intelligence in strangely shaped violet eyes.

Rose shuffles forward to the bars of her cage, smiling kindly at Ariz. She doesn’t know the exact nature of his relationship with Czif, but she can at least reassure him about his supposed competitor.

“Hey, look, I’m sure you took it the wrong way. Czif was just excited about the cure, that’s all, not about the Doctor himself. Don’t worry.”

Ariz looks back at her, startled, and his blush intensifies.

“What? I don’t – I didn’t mean…” He scrambles for words as Rose gives him a knowing look and he finally sighs, defeated. “Alright, I admit, I like Czif. But it doesn’t matter, we’re not… together. I’m sure she doesn’t think of me that way. She’s so smart, I must look like an idiot to her.”

She shakes her head with a smile. She can definitely understand the feeling. When she was a companion to the Doctor, there were certainly moments when she felt her inferiority in intelligence, no matter how many times he told her she was brilliant. But being with him also taught her that so many other qualities matter, like courage, and compassion.

“You’re not an idiot, Ariz. And intelligence is not the only thing that matters. From our talk yesterday, I can tell you’re passionate, kind, adventurous, full of wit… Being yourself is good enough. Does she know you like her?”

“No,” he replies, blushing. “There hasn’t really been a good time to tell her…”

“Look, there’s never a good time until it’s too late. Trust me, I know. Don’t wait too long, alright?”

He smiles tentatively and nods in thanks, but stays silent otherwise, his gaze returning to the ground. He is clearly still feeling dejected, and Rose is determined to cheer him up. And what better way to do this than to get him talking?

“Now, tell me about her. Did you meet her on this mission?”

Ariz tells her the story of how he met the pretty young Drazfin for the first time a few years back, when he was assigned to protect the science complex where she worked, before the disease and the war broke out. He is shy at first, insecure and not used to expressing his feelings out loud, but after a while his enthusiasm wins over, his love and admiration of Czif becoming obvious. He tells her of midnight snacks together in the cafeteria when she they were both working late into the night, of group outings where he would watch her from a distance, too shy to dance with her. Of finally gathering the courage to ask her out for dinner, and of a meal filled with enthusiastic conversations about her work, where she would beam at him when he understood the difficult concepts she was trying to explain.

Rose is surprised by his story. He had given her the impression that life on his planet was harsh and strict, but what he is telling her could have happened to any two young adults on Earth. She tells him as much, and he gives her a sad smile.

“It didn’t use to be so bad. In peaceful times, our society can be pretty relaxed. And it had been years since the last war, back then. There were tensions, sure, but mostly between the elites. Normal workers like us didn’t care much about factions. There were even some people that… “

He trails off, his expression suddenly pained. She reaches between the bars with her hand, beckoning him to her in a friendly gesture.

“Ariz, what’s wrong? You can tell me. We’re friends, yeah?”

She can see him hesitate before he finally gets up, moves forward, and sits down again in front of her. He takes her hand in one of his and holds it silently for a moment while he stares at the ground. His hand is cool and rugged to the touch, the sapphire blue tone of Ariz’s skin fading almost to translucence at the tip of his long fingers. She squeezes it lightly to give him her support. He takes a deep breath, and finally starts speaking again.

“Some people mingled with other factions, and even chose mates among them. It wasn’t forbidden back then, just… frowned upon. My brother, he – he married a woman from the Trakhan faction, they had two boys. I… haven’t heard from him or his family since the war started. I don’t… know if they’re alive… and even if he is… they won’t give Trakhans the cure once we have it, they’ll just… let them all die…”

He stops speaking, his voice strained, his eyes shut. Rose grasps his hand tightly, stroking his skin in soothing motions, and rests her head against the bars, feeling drained and close to tears. The more she learns about this world, the more she wants to help its people.

She’s not sure what they can really do, but maybe she can give Ariz some hope, at least.

“Look,” she declares in a low, urgent voice. “The Doctor and I have decided that once we’re free to go, we’ll replicate the cure ourselves and travel to your planet to distribute it. We _won’t_ let more than half of your population die, I promise. And… maybe we can help restore the peace at the same time, one way or another. So there’s still hope, alright? There’s always hope.”

Ariz looks up at her words, his reptilian eyes wide and dilated.

“You really think you could do that?”

“Well, we haven’t… worked out a plan yet, exactly. There hasn’t been time. But we have a spaceship, we can get to your planet. And once we’re there… well, maybe you could help us?”

He shifts closer to the bars of the cage and grasps her hand in both of his, hope finally shining in his eyes.

“Oh yes, I’ll help you! I’ll do anything I can! Thank you, Rose, thank you! You don’t know how much this means to me!”

Rose beams brightly at him, her heart full. A tear escapes the corner of her eye, and she raises her free hand to wipe it.

“Don’t mention it. Now, come on, you weren’t done with your story. I’m dying to know, what happened after you took her out for dinner?”

\---------------------

The silence is deafening as they work, the occasional clinks of glass tubes and low humming of machinery the only sounds to be heard. With Dzarn sitting on the stairs, watching them like a hawk, any discussion is impossible. This suits the Doctor just fine. Still seething with the truth of their leaders’ plan for the cure, he has no desire to talk to Kaf or Czif. The two Drazfins send bewildered looks his way when he answers them in short, abrupt replies, so unlike their enthusiastic exchanges of the day before, but the hurt in their eyes only fuels his annoyance. He does not want to feel bad for them. Unlike Rose, he finds it hard to believe that the two scientists might not be aware of their leaders’ intentions, and if they know, it makes them almost as guilty in his eyes. Ariz, at least, had the decency to tell Rose about it.

The thought of Rose brings his mind back to the events of a few hours earlier. His period of reflection in their prison yielded very little result. The only thought that firmly implanted itself in his mind was a fervent wish for the TARDIS med bay, where he could examine Rose with every medical equipment he possessed until he was satisfied that he understood what had happened to her, and what changes it had caused. But to get there… To get there he needs to finish this wretched cure.

When Firzian came in the cage room to tell Dzarn that Kaf, Czif and Ariz were awake and waiting for his orders, the Doctor was more than ready to get started. The faster he worked, the sooner Rose and him would be free. He now felt a constant anxiety regarding her well-being that was only alleviated, for the moment, by the fact that she was fast asleep in his arms, her warmth and regular breathing reassuring him that she was alive and well. As he gently disentangled himself from her, he noticed that there was no sleeping mat or any such luxury in the cage. Reluctant to lay her down on the cold, hard metal surface, he took off his overcoat, spread it on the floor and gently set the sleeping woman on top of it.

He heard the lock of the cage open, and raised his head to see Dzarn opening the door. Now that he had to leave, the Doctor was surprised by his reluctance to leave Rose. Forcing himself to ignore the gnawing feeling in his chest, he bent down, brushed a lock of hair away from her face and, after a second of hesitation, softly kissed her forehead. The feeling of her skin lingered on his lips as he tore himself away and strode through the open door.

Even now, as he is concentrating on work, part of his mind still remains on Rose. On the warmth of her skin, the scent of her hair, the beauty of her mind. He misses their telepathic connection already. Part of him wants nothing more than to rush back to her and burrow himself deep in her mind, to be surrounded by her again.

He pauses for a moment as the urge nearly overcomes him. Why does she affect him so much? He’s no mere youth of a hundred years, easily enticed by a pretty face and a pretty mind. He’s known her for such a short period of time, and yet he feels as though… as though he has known her forever. As though he wants to keep her with him, forever.

He shakes himself from his reverie and resumes working. He’s probably that shaken up only because of the telepathic link they shared. The experience _was_ intense, due to her lack of mental shields, and because of the strange quality of her mind, affected by the time vortex. Her feelings were powerful as she told her tale, and they made him emotional in turn.

Yes, that’s a rational explanation.

He ignores the voice in his head pointing out that his attraction and emotional attachment to the woman started well before the telepathic link. He absolutely avoids dwelling on why she was so emotional, on the fact that she saved him from death at the risk of her own life, and on what he thinks he glimpsed of her feelings for his future self. He _definitely_ refuses to think about what her feeling for _his present self_ could be, given enough time together.

He concentrates on work to suppress the distraction of his thoughts, and the development of the cure progresses well. Some hours into the day they experience a major breakthrough that manages to animate even him out of his stony silence, due to his belief that they will be done in a day or so. He takes careful mental note of what they have done so he can reproduce it on the TARDIS. He may be mad at _those_ Drazfins, but he still has the responsibility to prevent the genocide of more than half of their population.

Dzarn approaches as they are all bent over a computer monitor, alerted by their sudden excitement.

“What’s going on?”

“We’re almost got it, Dzarn,” answers Czif in an eager voice. She is bouncing on the balls of her feet, her pale skin darkened with enthusiasm. “We found a combination that almost completely eliminated the pathogen in cell culture.”

“Really? Great.” The Drazfin leader sounds _almost_ happy at the news, and the Doctor wonders if _anything_ could get this annoying creature in a good mood. “How soon do you think you will be done, then?”

“Just one of this planet’s solar day, I should think. See, we still need to optimize the concentration of – “

Dzarn stops her short with a raised hand.

“Czif, please. I told you before, I don’t need to hear the details. Kaf, go wake up Firzian. I need to rest, too.”

The scientist hurries upstairs while Dzarn turns towards the Doctor, a scowl on his face.

“Well done, Doctor. I guess you were useful after all.”

“You sound as if you are disappointed that this is the case,” he replies, irritated. He has no patience for this today.

“I admit I was rather looking forward to see you and your arrogance knocked down a bit.”

“ _My_ arrogance?”

“But I concede that you did help us a great deal, and to thank you we will let you go.”

Before the Doctor can give any reply, Dzarn turns away from him to join Firzian, who is coming down from the top floor, Kaf trailing a few paces behind her. They exchange a few quiet words at the foot of the stairs. The Doctor strains to hear what they are saying, wary of the Drazfin leader, but Czif turns to him again to discuss the results, and he is forced to divert his attention away.

Dzarn heads upstairs a few moments later. The Doctor watches him go in mistrust, catching a parting glance between the leader and Firzian full of a meaning he can’t decipher. Her face is carefully blank as she sits on a step of the staircase, and he gives up hope of finding answers through her.

Czif is talking to him again in an insisting voice, so he abandons his scrutiny to turn back towards the scientist. Maybe he is simply seeing deception where none exists. Maybe the secrecy and mistrust surrounding him are starting to rub off on him.

Their work continues in a subdued atmosphere. Czif is absorbed in precise chemical manipulations while Kaf is standing next to the microscope, observing their latest batch of cells in silence. Sometime later a low moan recalls to the Doctor’s attention the man still forcefully unconscious and strapped to the examination table, which has been wheeled away from the center of the room. He had wanted to examine him before, but when he had tried, Dzarn had snapped at him that there would be enough time for that once the cure was complete. With the leader away, and knowing Firzian to be a much more lenient guard, he walks over to the young man.

His appearance immediately worries him. Whatever drugs they are using to keep him unconscious are not interacting well with his system. His face is pale and clammy, his heart rate unnaturally high. He needs medical attention, as soon as possible. But can he do something for him now? Maybe he could find out from Kaf what cocktail of chemicals they have given him, and create a temporary remedy to counter their effect.

The scientist is still alone in a corner of the room, poring over the microscope, when the Doctor walks up to him.

“Kaf, I need to know – “

The Drazfin starts and straightens up abruptly. He stares at the Doctor and his eyes show such an unexpected mix of fear, uncertainty and trepidation that he loses track of any words he was about to say.

“Kaf? Are you alright? What’s the matter?” he asks, leaning closer in concern.

Kaf throws him an uneasy look before turning to glance behind him. Following his gaze, the Doctor notices that Firzian is observing them with close attention. He turns back towards the scientist in time to see his expression shift from anxious to resolute, looking back towards the microscope with a small decisive nod.

“Doctor!” he exclaims loudly – much louder than the distance between them really requires. “Here, take a look at this, tell me what you think.”

He moves aside to make some space in front of the instrument, quickly shooting him a look that clearly implores him to do as he says. Puzzled, the Doctor bends down to look into the eyepiece. He can see a glass dish of one of their latest cell cultures, showing the nearly total regression of the pathogen. This is nothing he hasn’t seen before, however, and he is about to ask Kaf what he is supposed to be looking for when he feels the scientist lean in close to him.

“Just play along,” he whispers. _“_ There is something I need to tell you.”

The Doctor arches an eyebrow, intrigued, but manages to suppress any other indication that he has heard him.

“You’re right, this is interesting!” he exclaims for the sake of their guard, pretending to manipulate the instrument. “What do you make of it?”

“This is definitely not the reaction we were expecting. Have you noticed that bigger cluster of cells?” Kaf answers loudly, before dropping his voice again. “Doctor, I heard Dzarn and Firzian talking when I was coming down the stairs. They were discussing Rose.”

The Doctor stiffens at those words, a feeling of cold dread creeping up his spine.

“Yes, I see it now. Give me a minute, let me take a look.“ He pauses before whispering, “And?”

“Firzian must have told Dzarn about your friend’s unprecedented survival to the energy blast,” Kaf continues in a low, urgent voice. “I only caught a small part of their conversation, but they were talking about her military value. I think they want to study her, to see if they could replicate her capabilities.”

The feeling of dread erupts in full blown anxiety. He should have seen this coming. Maybe he had, unconsciously, which is why he had been so wary of Dzarn, and so anxious about Rose’s safety. He will not let them take Rose and turn her into a lab rat. They will have to go through him, first.

For the moment, at least, she is safe. Dzarn is upstairs, Firzian is guarding _him_. Ariz is with her, of course, but he has proved to be friendly, and he has to trust that he would not harm her. There is still time to stop whatever plan the Drazfin leader is plotting. He knows this, rationally, but it doesn’t stop the urge to bolt from the room all the way back to the cage, back to Rose.

Kaf must have sensed this, as he lays a hand on his shoulder in a calming gesture, leaning in again to whisper in his ear.

“Don’t react. You can’t let them know you are aware of this. Do you think you can prevent them from taking Rose? I will help you if I can.”

The Doctor lets out a shaky breath. Kaf is right, he has to calm down.

“Yes, I will… think of something,” he replies quietly. “Thank you for telling me. I _must_ warn her, though. _”_

“Hmm, you were right to bring this to my attention,” he adds loudly, straightening up. “I need to reflect on it.”

He notices that Firzian has stepped closer to them, standing alert with a hand on her gun, but she relaxes when she sees the Doctor step away from Kaf.He _must_ talk to Rose. That much is clear in his head. He doesn’t think Dzarn will dare to do anything until the cure is complete, which means he probably has a little over a day to come up with a plan. Until then, he has to at least provide her with a means of helping herself.

He has given her his coat, with everything that his pockets contain, but thinking back he is not sure there is much of use in there, mostly useless kick-knacks gathered during his adventures. The weight in his breast pocket gives him another idea, however.

His sonic screwdriver. The ideal tool to get out of a situation like this. If he can give this to her, he will at least have an easier peace of mind until he can come up with a better plan.

Good. Now, he must find a way back to the cage. Hmm, should he try the same trick as the last time? Would it work again?

He continues working for a few minutes to assuage any suspicions that might have arisen from his discussion with Kaf. When enough time has passed, he yawns, straightening up to stretch his arms above his head.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I am getting pretty exhausted,” he says tiredly, addressing both scientists. “What do you say we get some rest before the last stretch of work?”

Czif stops working and looks at Kaf, uncertain, before finally shrugging in agreement.

“Yes, I suppose it would be best. We’re at a good place to stop, anyway. Firzian, could you escort the Doctor back to the cage?”

“Well, I… I don’t know. I should ask Dzarn…”

“He’s sleeping upstairs,” replies Kaf. “Do you really want to wake him? Besides, you’d have to leave the Doctor without guard in order to do it. Do you think he’d be happy about that?”

Firzian hesitates for a moment before nodding in acceptance.

“Alright, fine. Doctor, walk in front of me.”

Trying not to appear too exultant, he steps into the passageway, shooting Kaf a look of thanks as he passes by him.

Rose is sitting near the front bars of the cage, softly talking with Ariz when he comes into the room. Both of them fall silent, turning towards the doorway in surprise. Rose gets to her feet as Firzian opens the lock, dutifully moving back when she orders her to do so. She is wrapped up in his overcoat, looking absurdly beautiful in the overly large garment. The Doctor can only stare at her as he steps inside, absorbing every single detail of the woman as his hearts accelerate at the sight of her. His previous emotions rush back to him, the urge to take her in his arms, to taste her skin, to burrow himself into her mind taking hold of him again. She steps forward as the lock snaps shut, and he can’t resist the desire any longer.

In one quick stride he reaches her and sweeps her into his arms, a wave of heat spreading inside him as he feels her responding, her hands snaking around his waist to tightly grasp his back. Unable to help himself, he lowers his lips to her temple, kissing her as he enters her mind through the contact.

He hears her gasp, at the kiss or the telepathic contact he couldn’t say, but he can’t bring himself to stop. He is aware of every shallow breath she takes, of each of her hammering heartbeat. His lips are on her skin, his mind is surrounded by her golden warmth, and he feels like he is on the brink of losing control. Now that he is with her again, he can’t lie to himself, can’t deny the effect she has on him.

Only the thought of the danger threatening her lets him keep hold of himself. He opens his eyes to see Firzian exit the room, leaving only Ariz to watch them. They could talk normally now, without any need for telepathy, but he can’t bring himself to let go. Rose seems to be of the same mind, tightening her hold on him until almost no space remains between them.

“ _Doctor…_ ” she whispers in his mind. Even through the link, she sounds breathless. To hear her like this makes his own breath catch.

To regain some rational thought, he forces himself to remove his lips from her skin, his hands coming up to frame her face in their place. Her eyes are closed, her cheeks flushed, and he takes a moment to drink her in.

“ _Rose… You need to be careful. Dzarn is plotting something, I’m not sure what, but something to do with you._ ”

“ _Me? Why?_ ”

“ _Because you survived their energy weapon when no one else ever has. They want to figure out how you did it, use it to their advantage._ ”

“ _Oh. I hadn’t thought of that, it does make sense, I guess... But you’re helping them! Would they betray you like that?_ ”

“ _I don’t know about the others, but I have no trust in Dzarn. Just… be on your guard. I don’t think they will try anything until the cure is complete, which means we have at least another day. But you should take this, just in case._ ”

He lowers one of his hands to his breast pocket, fishes out his sonic screwdriver, and places it in her hand. Her eyes fly open as she closes her fingers around it.

“ _Are you sure? You might need it._ ”

“ _Yes, I’m sure. I will be more at ease if I know that you are not helpless._ ”

One of her eyebrows quirks up and an amused glint appears in her eyes.

“Me, _helpless? Obviously you haven’t seen me in my hand-to-hand combat class. I’m sure I could take you on and kick your arse._ ”

Unable to help himself, he laughs out loud and is rewarded by her bright smile and teasing tongue. He is nonetheless glad to see her slip the sonic inside an inner pocket of her coat.

“ _Doctor, I wanted to tell you. I had a chat with Ariz earlier, he has promised that he will help us, with the distribution of the cure and everything._ ”

Without breaking the contact between them, she turns her head towards the guard, and the Doctor follows her gaze.

“Ariz, tell the Doctor about – what?”

Dzarn and Firzian suddenly burst into the room and are advancing towards them, a weapon gripped in the right hand of the female Drazfin. The Doctor hears Rose gasp.

“That’s my stunner!” she whispers faintly.

“Shoot them both, but we only take her,” orders Dzarn.

The Doctor has no time to react as Firzian raises the gun and fires at Rose. The abrupt dissolution of the link between them leaves him dizzy as she slumps in his arms, unconscious. Without missing a beat, the Drazfin turns the gun on him and shoots. The blast of energy suddenly surging in his system brings him to his knees, but he remains conscious.

He hears Ariz shouting – _No!_ _What are you doing?_ – his voice distant to the Doctor’s ears. Then Dzarn orders Firzian to fire again, and everything fades to black.


	8. Chapter 8

The bars of the cage’s ceiling blur in and out of focus as the Doctor regains consciousness. His mind is fuzzy, his head hurts, and why is he lying on the ground? – but in a heartbeat it all rushes back to him.

“Rose!”

He sits up abruptly and instantly regrets it as his head throbs painfully. He rests it in his hands with a groan, eyes closed. The room is swaying nauseatingly, and a dull ache has settled in his entire body. He takes a few deep breaths, trying to whip his senses back into shape, tune out the pain.

He lowers his hands slowly, cautiously opening his eyes again. He is still inside that cage, the room beyond dark and silent, and _empty_. But inside it… He can just distinguish a dark shape crumpled on the floor, to his right, and his hearts clench for a second before he notices the color of the skin. Blue.

A Drazfin? Why is there a Drazfin _in_ the cage?

He crawls closer and recognizes Ariz, the guard that Rose befriended. He is relieved to see him alive and breathing, but he is otherwise completely unresponsive to the Doctor’s attempts to wake him.

Has he been stunned, too?

“Rose!” he shouts again.

Still no answer.

He looks around in the hopes of finding clues to this strange situation, and his eyes fall on a lump besides Ariz that he hadn’t noticed earlier. It’s his coat, the coat he’d given to Rose.

They stunned her, stripped her of his coat, and took her away.

Somehow, that fact is enough to let the anger that had been simmering inside him to erupt to a boil. He has the urge to throw himself against the bars of the cage until they break, to get to wherever the Drazfins are hiding and make them pay for taking Rose away from him – to make _Dzarn_ pay. He knows this is Dzarn’s doing, and he will _not_ let him get away with this.

He almost succumbs to his impulse, but the pain still throbbing in his head reminds him that he is currently in no state to do this. As much as he despises doing it, he will have to try the diplomatic approach for now. Or as diplomatic as he can manage, at least.

“Dzarn!” he yells. “Dzarn, I must talk to you! There is no need for you to do any of this. And you promised you’d let us go! Have you no honour?”

Only silence greets his outburst. He tries one last time.

“Dzarn! Just come in here, let’s discuss this!”

There is no answer. In fact, the whole house seems too quiet, as if devoid of any other living being. The fact that there is no guard in the room truly registers with him for the first time, and he knows it doesn’t bode well. The Drazfins have never left him unguarded since their first encounter.

His head is still pounding, impeding his ability to think. He tries to concentrate on the last thing he can remember before falling unconscious. Firzian shot Rose, and then him… No, after that, Ariz screaming, trying to stop her… Is this why he is here with him? Are they punishing him? He pushes the thought aside as unimportant for now.

Before that, before Firzian shot them, he remembers now, Dzarn had said… _Shoot them both, but we only take her_.

Cursing himself for being so slow, he finally realizes what has happened. They have taken Rose in order to study her, away from him, away from any possible interference. The cure being so close to completion, Dzarn probably decided they could finish it without his help. He had probably been biding his time, waiting for the best moment to betray him, for a time when he could get them both unconscious with minimal struggle. When they could clear out, undisturbed.

By insisting on seeing Rose, he had provided them with the perfect opportunity, and Firzian had wasted no time in warning Dzarn.

The Doctor curses his cluelessness. He had thought he had time to formulate a plan, even stall if necessary, and all this time… He hadn’t suspected this.

And now they have Rose.

Instead of anger, a calm, cold resolve settles over him. The Drazfins have no idea who they have just double-crossed, and he almost pities them for thinking they could get away with it. He _will_ get Rose back. There is no doubt in his mind.

But first, he must get out of this cage.

He straightens up and walks towards the door, which holds fast when he tries to open it. He crouches to examine the lock, and after inspection is able to determine that a strong enough energy pulse at a very precise location could open it, if only he could find a way to produce it.

Good. Now, how to proceed? His first thought is his sonic screwdriver, but no, he gave it to Rose. He wonders if she still has it. The Drazfins had the foresight to strip her of his coat, so they might have searched her before taking her away. Would they have found the sonic if they did? He remembers her slipping it in an inside pocket of her own jacket, where it _might_ just have stayed undetected. If so…

Well, he remembers what she said about not being helpless, even without it. He just hopes she’s not going to try anything too reckless. Somehow… he’s doesn’t think waiting calmly for him to rescue her is really her style.

Well, other than make him want to work faster to get to the woman, worrying about this is pointless. He must focus. First, get out, and then search for Rose.

Maybe he has something on him that could help? A search of his trouser pockets reveals nothing useful: a ball pen, a piece of yarn, a few crumpled up sheets of paper… He walks back to his coat, still bundled up next to the unconscious Drazfin. He rummages through his pockets for a few moments, rapidly getting exasperated by the amount of useless rubbish he tends to accumulate, when he lets out a triumphant cry.

He has found a power crystal from Krilav IV, which will work perfectly as an energy source. Now if he could only find a way to reroute and stabilise the energy… He fishes out a few metallic filaments, a piece of rubber and a ball of firm, elastic paste – he has no idea how that got in his pockets – and studies the assortment before him. Yes, that _could_ just work.

He puts on his coat and brings the items he has chosen with him as he settles in a corner of the cage to work. The faint scent of Rose that lingers on the cloth makes his jaw clench, but he resolutely pushes all thoughts and feelings aside as he starts on his task. The noise of his tools and a few soft curses have been the only sounds disrupting the absolute stillness of the place for a long while when a low grunt makes him raise his eyes from his work.

Ariz is waking up.

He sees the Drazfin try to raise himself on his elbows before falling to the ground again, his arms coming up to press the palms of his hands against his eyes with a groan. The Doctor observes him with mixed feelings for a moment, warring with the anger still brewing beneath the surface that gives him the urge to leave him in pain, to rage at him for what his teammates did. In the end he is able to suppress the aggression within himself, and he sets his half-finished device on the ground before walking over to the Drazfin. After all, he has clearly not taken part in Rose’s kidnapping, if he ended up stunned and locked up in the cage.

He crouches besides Ariz, placing a hand on his shoulder in an attempt at comfort. The gesture startles him and he attempts to scuttle back, glazed eyes flying open.

“Ariz, don’t worry, it’s only me, only the Doctor.”

His gaze finally focuses on him at his words, and he relaxes slightly, although his expression remains alarmed as he takes in his surroundings.

“Doctor, wha – What’s happened? Why am I…?”

“I’m not absolutely certain, but I think you have been stunned. What can you remember?”

“I – I’m not sure, I…” he tries to sit up as he trails off in thought, but his look of concentration soon turns into one of pain. He closes his eyes again with a groan. “Ugh, why does it hurt so much?”

“It’s the after-effect of the stunner, leaving your body in shock as the energy slowly dissipates,” he explains as he moves to support the Drazfin’s shoulders. “Take your time, it’s alright. The pain will fade away eventually.”

Ariz groans his assent. In slow increments, with the Doctor’s help, he is able to sit up properly, and to scoots backwards to lean against the wall where he rests, panting slightly. The Doctor walks back to pick up his unfinished device and settles back down next to his companion. Silence falls once again.

“Doctor?” Ariz speaks up after some time. “I remember… I was guarding Rose when you walked in with Firzian. You embraced for a while and I… it made me think of… well, anyway. I was settling back down on the floor when Firzian suddenly walked back into the room, with Dzarn. They had this… weapon that we took from Rose, in that other building… Firzian shot you both, and it happened so fast that I… didn’t have time to react. You fell down, and – wait, why aren’t you in pain, too, if you were stunned like me?”

“Superior physiology, that’s all. I woke up a while ago,” he answers dismissively. “And your body was already in a weakened state because of the disease, so you are recuperating more slowly. But don't worry, your state should improve soon. Now, what happened after they shot us?”

“I – I tried to stop Dzarn. I asked him what they were doing, _why_ , when you were helping us… but he wasn’t listening to me.” He pauses, frowning, as his memory returns. “Firzian walked into the cage, removed your coat from Rose, and took her in her arms to carry her out. I – I kept yelling at Dzarn to stop, that you wouldn’t keep helping us with the cure if we took Rose from you, but he said – he said that we didn’t need you anymore, that Rose was too good an opportunity to pass up. But Rose, she’d been so kind to me, she talked to me about… courage, about standing up for what you believe in, so I – I told him I wouldn’t go along with this, and I tried to stop Firzian, but Dzarn hit me from behind. I fell on the floor, and I must have – blacked out for a second. When I tried to get up Dzarn had that gun pointed at me, and…”

He gets more and more agitated as he tells his story, and when he stops talking he is shaking, his breath coming in gasps. The Doctor gently hushes him, a hand on his shoulder.

"Ariz, it's alright, listen to me, everything’s alright. Just calm down. Take deep breaths."

The Drazfin nods painfully, his eyes closed. After a few moments he starts to settle down, his breathing returning to normal.

"I’m sorry, I... I just can't believe they did that to me. Well… no, I guess that's not true. Dzarn is more than capable of it. And Firzian... I think she's trying to redeem herself. He blames her, for letting the prisoners escape, back then... Are they gone? Have they left us here?"

"I think so, yes. As far as I can tell, there has been no activity in this house ever since I regained consciousness, over an hour ago."

The Drazfin nods with a dejected air, and the Doctor can easily understand how he feels. Stranded on an alien planet, abandoned by his own people... and all for the sake of two strangers.

"Ariz, I must thank you for trying to help us, especially when you know us so little."

His companion shrugs, a weak smile on his face.

"Rose and I, we… we talked a lot during her time in the cage. She's so kind, so brave... she would have done the same for me."

"Yes, I believe she would have," the Doctor answers. The thought fills him with warmth, and despite his anxiety at her well-being he smiles as he thinks of her. "Well, I most certainly won't let her fall into the hands of your people. I mean to escape and go after them. Will you help me?"

"Yes. Yes, I'll help you, Doctor," he replies, sitting up a bit taller, his features setting in a resolute expression. "Do you have a plan?"

"For now, the plan is to get out of this cage. See this?" The Doctor picks up the device he had set down on the floor, holding it up for inspection. "It will fire an energy pulse that will open the lock, or at least it should, once I have finished assembling it."

"You had that with you all this time?" asks Ariz, surprised. “Why didn’t you try to escape before?”

"Well, I had the spare parts in my pockets. I just had to tinker a bit. And I _wanted_ to help your people, Ariz. In any case, it is nearly finished."

The Doctor resumes his work under the attentive eye of his companion. Although Ariz is still weak, his curious nature takes over as he asks about the workings of the device. He is particularly fascinated by the crystal, unlike anything he has ever seen.

“Ah, you should see the crystal mines of Krilav III, you would love it. This one comes from Krilav IV, a sister planet with a much bigger production, but Krilav III has the most beautiful specimens. Would you believe their mines actually serve a symbiotic purpose?”

Time passes amiably as he talks while he works on the device, describing the crystal mines and the lives of its inhabitants. Ariz listens with rapt attention as he slowly regains his strength. He can see why Rose liked the boy: he is an excellent listener with an avid curiosity, and a refreshing innocence despite the violent war raging on his world. He is quickly growing to enjoy his company, despite the regrettable circumstances that have thrown them together.

"There, finished!" he declares at last.

"Will it work?"

"Only one way to find out! Come, are you strong enough to walk?"

Ariz nods with a determined air and manages to stand up with some assistance from the Doctor. Together they shuffle towards the entrance of their prison. Ariz leans against the door as the Doctor crouches in front of the lock, carefully connecting it to his device. The anticipation is palpable as he attaches the last wire and, with a look towards his companion, powers the crystal.

The surge of energy blinds them for a second, but when they look again the device’s wires are fried and the lock itself is smoking, its circuits melting. The door opens easily as the Doctor gives it a small push. He straightens up again as Ariz cheers, and he turns to his companion with a satisfied smile.

"Now, what do you say we go and get Rose back?"

When they emerge into the living room, it becomes clear that the other Drazfins have left in a hurry. Half of the equipment is still there, overturned glass vials and dismissed tools scattered everywhere. And the most important thing they have left behind...

The male subject, still unconscious, strapped to the examination table. Most of the tubes and IV lines have been yanked away, leaving the already weak man in a wretched state without the support of the alien drugs to keep him alive.

The Doctor curses when he sees him. He wants nothing more than to run to his TARDIS and fly to Rose's rescue, but he can't abandon the poor boy in this state. He must at least bring him to the TARDIS medical bay, and stabilize him.

“Ariz, wait here. My ship is nearby, I will run and get it. It will only take a few seconds.”

“I could just help you carry him, it would be faster.”

“A few seconds!” he replies, already halfway out the door.

It is high afternoon outside. He was aware of that fact, of course, having an innate knowledge of the passing of time, but it is still slightly dizzying to be in the bright sun after all this time spent in that dim house with its boarded windows. He runs towards the middle of the clearing where he and Rose left the TARDIS, and soon he is at her doors, her welcome singing sing in his head. But he senses that something is a bit off as he shoves the doors open and rushes to the console. Her humming sounds almost… distressed? Anxious?

“Are you alright, old girl?” he asks as he sets the controls to arrive in the living room a few instants after his departure.

She hums insistently in answer, and he looks down to see she has changed his input to new coordinates that would send him away from Earth, all the way to… Karzad? The Drazfins’ planet? Why…?

Oh. The TARDIS is worried for Rose. But how does she know where to go? And _why_ is Rose so important to his ship?

He shakes his head, exasperated. There is something more to this, surely, something more than Rose being simply a favored companion of his ship. Did looking into the heart of the TARDIS somehow create a link between them?

A thought strikes him suddenly. Could it be why they had landed so close to her when she was unconscious and near death, in that old warehouse? He _had_ wondered about the almost incredible coincidence of that first meeting.

But if it was so… why had the link between Rose and the TARDIS called _this_ him, at this particular point in his timeline, instead of the version she knows?

He groans and lets his head drop in his hands as he leans on the console. Every answer he thinks he manages to find only brings more questions.

He wishes Rose was there to answer them.

Right. Wishing won’t make it happen. He resets the coordinates, soothingly stroking the console.

“Don’t worry, old girl. We’ll go and get her back. I just have to take care of a few things, first. You wouldn’t let a poor innocent boy die, would you?”

The TARDIS groans in agreement, and seconds later they are materialising right next to an open-mouthed Ariz.

“Wh – what? What is this? How did you –?“ the Drazfin gapes as he steps out of the doors.

The Doctor grins as he goes to unstrap the man, taking him in his arms and carrying him back to the TARDIS.

“Are you coming?” he asks over his shoulder as he pushes the door open with his foot. Ariz hesitates before following him.

“In there? But it’s just… a… “

He stops on the threshold, astonished. The Doctor throws him an amused look as he crosses the console room. Ariz has backed a few steps and is looking back and forth between the exterior and interior of the TARDIS, a sort of terrified awe on his face.

“It’s… it’s… bigger on the inside!”

The Doctor stops at the door leading away from the console room to the rest of the TARDIS, his expression wavering between mirth and impatience.

“Is it? I hadn’t noticed. Now come in, hurry, I have to bring this man to the medical bay immediately. And close the door behind you, will you?” he adds as an afterthought as he disappears inside the corridor.

He is glad to see that the TARDIS has moved the medical bay right next to the console room, and he wastes no time in depositing the man in his arms on the examination table. He hurriedly sets up a full-body scanner and leans in front of the monitor to read the results.

What he sees doesn’t please him. The man’s situation is degenerating rapidly. Without knowledge of the drugs he was injected with, he is flying blind trying to treat him.

“Ariz!” he calls. He steps out of the medical bay to the threshold of the control room to see the Drazfin standing a few steps in front of the console, looking in wonder at the interior of the TARDIS. His gaze snaps to the Doctor as he comes in the room, looking at him with wide eyes.

“Your ship… it’s amazing!”

“Thank you, she’ll be pleased to hear it,” he answers with an amused smile. “Now, come with me, I need your help with our unconscious friend.”

He sees his companion puzzle over his use of the word “she” for a moment before seemingly deciding to let it go with a shrug and a nod. He leads the way out of the room and into the medical bay. Ariz follows him and starts upon seeing the corridor extending endlessly beyond the console room.

“How big _is_ your ship?”

“I’m not quite sure. I don’t think I ever found all the rooms,” he answers distractedly as he walks to the examination table. “Tell me, do you know what drugs they used to keep him from waking up? He’s getting worse, I need to treat him.”

“Um, yes, it’s just the usual sedative, I think. A mix of chromafidin and trehydrazol. But… it really shouldn’t be causing any problems.”

“It’s the usual for _your_ species, maybe. It doesn’t seem to be interacting very well with human physiology, or at least not for such a long period of time…. Chromafidin and trehydrazol, yes… Let me see…”

He leans over the monitor to study the scan results again before dashing to the side of the room where vials upon vials of strange liquids and powders are stacked seemingly haphazardly on a number of shelves.

“Hmm, I think… yes, deoxyfralase, and… no, not this one. Where did I put this the last time?” he mutters as he searches through the messy collection. “Ah yes, there we are.”

His hands full, he rushes to a workstation and begins mixing components with an expert and assured hand under the perplexed eye of his companion.

“You can… create a treatment, just like that?”

“Hmm? Oh, well, yes, it’s not a very difficult problem. It’s simply a case of counteracting the effect of the drug on the circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid, and keeping the lymphocytes from reacting to the depletion of – “

“Fine, I don’t… I don’t need the details. Were you buying time before, then?” At the blank look the Doctor sends him over the counter, he clarifies: “I mean, for _our_ cure. It took you much longer.”

“Oh no, Ariz, no. Yours was complicated case, and I must admit I am much more familiar to human physiology than to your own. You could almost say humans are my specialty!”

“Yeah, I guess I understand. What with Rose and all.”

“Yes, with – what?”

“Well, I just meant, of course you know humans. You’ve been with her for a while.”

He ignores the peculiar feeling the term “with her”, and all the implications it seems to carry, creates in him, instead looking at his companion in curiosity.

“What makes you say that?”

“She told me about all the adventures you had together. It’s just… the way she talked about them, and about you… it sounded as though you had been together for some time.”

The wave of jealousy that hits him at those words is completely unexpected. It’s just… Ariz has heard stories he has yet to live, he knows of adventures Rose has lived through… and by them knows _her_ , possibly, better than he does, and doesn’t that just sting. But then his mind focuses on the words “together” and “the way she talked about you” and the heat that rushes over him can no longer be ignored.

 _How_ did she talk about him, exactly? Were they… _will_ they be together, properly together, in every sense of the word? He… doesn’t do that, hasn’t for a very long time, but then again… Rose is different. He’s known that from the moment he met her. His heart rate accelerates as he remembers their telepathic conversation and the feeling he felt pouring from her as she was describing how she saved him, that feeling he hadn’t been able to place. Was it love? _Does she love him?_

His grip on the flask loosens, and he just manages to catch it before it crashes to the floor. He hurriedly sets it back on the counter, forcing himself to steady his breathing, to slow down the beating of his hearts.

“Doctor? Are you alright?”

He nods mutely, finishes mixing the serum in silence and walks back to the unconscious man. He carefully measures a quantity that he injects into the vein of the patient’s arm and pauses, eyes closed, back turned to his companion.

He doesn’t know what to think. He _can’t_ think. His mind is blank, shocked by the realization, by the warm feeling he can still feel when he concentrates, so powerful, all-consuming… or is it just being mirrored inside his own hearts?

He turns back abruptly towards Ariz, who takes a step back, startled. He’s not sure he wants to know what kind of expression is on his face, right now.

“Come on. We need to figure out what to do next.”

\--------------------

Apparently, what he needs to do is something that stalls him from going to Rose’s rescue. Again.

He needs to bring the man to a hospital. He argues this over with himself for a few seconds, unwilling to lose more time, but it is unavoidable. He can’t leave the man in the medical bay, at the risk of him waking up, alone and disoriented, inside an alien ship. That is, unless he sedates him, and he has had quite enough of that already.

Waiting for him to wake up naturally and giving him further treatments himself is something he cannot even bear to consider, so bringing him to a hospital is the only good compromise he can find. The question of where, however, is another matter.

Assuming his knowledge of Great Britain remains accurate in this parallel universe, it still leaves him with a problem. He knows of many hospitals in the country, of course, but how many with the knowledge to treat someone suffering because of alien drugs? Even though the man is stabilized, a normal human treatment at this point could still do more harm than good.

He needs UNIT. There’s nothing else to be done about it.

He hopes it still exists in this universe and that if it does, future him has good relations with it, if any.

He strides around the console, inputting coordinates while soothingly stroking the time rotor. He tried going to UNIT before, but his ship kept him from it, bringing him to Rose’s flat instead. Will she let him this time?

“Come on, old girl,” he whispers. “After this, we can go to Rose, I promise. Just give me this one.”

He pulls the dematerialization lever. He can hear Ariz exclaiming at the sounds and vibrations, but he has his eyes peeled on the displays, hoping that, just for once, he will get to where he needs to go.

He checks the sensors as soon as he lands, and lets out a sigh of satisfaction. He’s in the correct location, at the correct time, and as far as he can tell from what he sees on the monitor, in the very center of UNIT’s infirmary.

He’s out of the console room and back in an instant, carrying the man in his arms. He shouts to a perplexed Ariz to stay where he is, and in a second more he has rushed out of the doors.

He emerges, as he had guessed, in the infirmary of UNIT headquarters. It is thankfully empty, save for a bewildered looking nurse, who is looking at him as though he can’t quite understand what he is seeing.

“Hello, I’m the Doctor, although probably not the one you know. Or maybe you don’t know me at all, I’m not quite certain. In any case, I have a patient for you. I take it this bed is empty?” he asks as he lays the man down on the bed closest to him.

The nurse is still looking wordlessly at him, which he is grateful for. The less time spent explaining the situation, the faster he can leave.

“He was captured by aliens – not me, I assure you – and kept sedated with drugs for a long time. His condition was rapidly deteriorating, so I stabilized him, but I don’t have the time necessary to keep an eye on him. Here, this has all the information you need to know about the drugs he was injected with, and what I have given him to help. There shouldn’t be any need for a further dose, but just in case, here you go.”

He takes out of his pockets a few printouts he had prepared in advance, as well as a flask containing the rest of the serum, and hands them to the nurse. The man is still looking at him with round, disbelieving eyes, however, and makes no move to take a hold of them. The Doctor sighs, and lays the items down on the bed instead. The nurse must be new. This is a terrible reaction to have in case of a less benevolent alien intrusion.

“Alright, well, if that’s all, I really need to dash,” he says, walking back to the TARDIS. “I’ll come back and check on him later.” He disappears inside the TARDIS, but pops his head back out a second later.

“Oh, I forgot to mention, he might be a little agitated when he first wakes up. Try to keep him calm, will you? It will be best for his health.”

He closes the doors of his ship one last time, resting against them for a second, eyes closed. Finally. He can finally go and get Rose back.

And beware anyone who dares to stand in his way.

\--------------------

_“Hello, Torchwood? This is UNIT. We think we have the missing man you are searching for. And you’ll never believe how we got him…”_


	9. Chapter 9

She regains consciousness with a jolt, instantly going from absolute darkness to complete awareness as if someone had flipped a switch in her head.

She remembers everything: the Doctor’s warning, his gift of the sonic screwdriver, the irruption of the two Drazfins in the room, _her_ stunner…

But where is she now?

She is lying down on something, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling, and when she attempts to sit up she realizes she cannot do more than raise her neck. Looking down at herself she sees the restraints across her chest and wrists. She can’t see further down her body, but judging by the fact that she can’t move her legs, she guesses they are restrained, as well. She tries to tug her wrists free, straining her neck to see as best as she can, but then her gaze is arrested by the sight of her arms. They are bare, her own jacket and the Doctor’s coat stripped off her at some point, and skin...

Her skin is… glowing?

She closes her eyes, shakes her head, and when she opens them again the golden light she thought she saw is gone, the only illumination in the room the dim orange glow that seems to be exuding from the walls themselves.

She gives up trying to free herself and tries to figure out where she is. Her field of view is limited due to her restraints, but she can see walls made of a strange, alien material. She can see shelves full of chemicals next to some familiar equipment. Things she has seen before in the Drazfins’ makeshift lab. There’s a low and constant rumbling noise all around her which suggests engines, and she finally puts everything together.

She’s in a spaceship. The Drazfins’ spaceship.

Have they taken her to study her, just as the Doctor feared? If so, where exactly are they taking her? And _where_ is the Doctor?

Has she just dreamed the whole thing?

Raised voices snap her out of her thoughts. They are growing louder and clearer which each passing second, no doubt approaching the room she is in. They are arguing, she realizes, the angry tone of the words becoming easily recognizable. When one of the voices snaps above the others, she finally identifies Dzarn, the Drazfin leader.

“…want to hear anything else from you two. I’m in charge here, and I don’t have to justify myself to you. You just listen to what I say, or I’ll report you when we land, and you know what _that_ means. Are we clear?”

Dzarn’s voice has grown progressively closer as he talks, until it seems to be coming from right outside the threshold of the room. Rose closes her eyes and forces her muscles to relax, pretending to be unconscious still. Seconds later she hears footsteps entering the room, accompanied by murmurs of assent from the other voices – although who they are, Rose couldn’t tell.

“Good. Now, we’ll have to work in shifts. Firzian and I will take care of flying the ship, and I want you to work on the cure and finish it before we get to Karzad. You told me you were almost done back then, one or two Earth days at most, so I’m assuming there’s enough time?”

“Should be fine,” grumbles another voice, a male – not Ariz, she has chatted with him for long enough that she knows his voice by now, and that doesn’t sound like him. What is that other scientist’s name? Kaf? – “Although without the Doctor, if we stumble into another problem…”

“You’re scientists, too, just work it out!” snaps Dzarn. “And Czifiran, I want you to start analyzing samples from the woman, as well. I’d love to have something interesting to show by the time we get home.”

“I could help with that, too,” argues Kaf.

“No, not you. I’m not sure I can trust you anymore. You know, Firzian is convinced you passed on information to the Doctor earlier, or tried to, at least. Work to convince me otherwise and I might change my mind about you, but in the meantime, I don’t want you near her. Understood? Good. Now, go get some rest. Czif, start working.”

“Actually… there are a few things we need to set up. It will go faster with both of us. I’ll rest after that.”

“Fine. I’ll leave you to it.”

Rose hears Dzarn leave the room, his footsteps fading away in the corridor beyond, and for a moment there is absolute silence in the room. She considers opening her eyes to take a peek, but then there is a soft shuffle of feet, and the sound of someone slumping on a chair.

“There’s nothing to set up, Kaf. You can just go,” says Czif, speaking up for the first time in a tired and defeated tone, her voice muffled as though she has dropped her head onto her arms.

“Czif…” Kaf trails off in a hesitant voice. “Do you… want to talk about it?”

“What is there to talk about? There’s nothing we can do. He’s… and, I can’t… Please, Kaf, just go,” she answers, choking up on the last word.

“He’s with the Doctor, you know, so he’s safe for now. The Doctor won’t harm him. He’s going to try to get Rose back, you can count on that, and Ariz will come with him. And then –“

“And then what? You think our leaders will let him come back? That they’re just going to forgive him for rebelling against Dzarn’s orders? You know they won’t!” All energy seems to leave her after this outburst, and her voice drops to a plaintive whisper. “Oh, why did he have to do that…?”

“Well, you know how he is…”

Czif gives a weak, sad laugh.

“Yeah, and I’ve… always loved this about him… Ugh…”

There’s a pause in which Rose hears footsteps pacing the room, not quite covering the shallow breathing of someone trying to keep from crying.

“We’ll think of something, Czif. You’ll get him back.”

All he gets as a response is a quiet sob, and he finally stops pacing.

“Do you want me to take your shift? You need some rest.”

“No, you’ll only make Dzarn angrier,” she answers in a weak voice. “And I can’t sleep now, I’ll just keep thinking about… Work will keep me distracted.”

“Alright. Just… try to stay positive, okay? I’ll see you later.”

Kaf’s footsteps leave the room and slowly fade away in the hallway beyond. Silence falls again in the room, only occasionally broken by quiet sobs and ragged breathing. Lying unmoving on the table, eyes still closed, Rose takes this chance to mull over what she has just heard.

First, she is now absolutely sure that she has been kidnapped by the Drazfins, in order for them to study her. The Doctor had warned her of this, but had apparently been wrong on _when_ it would happen. And now she’s a prisoner, strapped down to a table on a spaceship headed to Karzad. The name of the Drazfins’ home planet, or maybe that of a city?

Next. The Doctor is still on Earth. They probably stunned him right after her and bolted away before he could wake up. But at least he is alive. And, as Kaf speculated, very probably coming for her. If that version of the Doctor is anything like the other two she has known – and he is, she _knows_ – there will be hell to pay when he catches up with them.

Then, Ariz has apparently been left on Earth with him. Rose remembers the way his face lit up with hope when she told him that they would help, that they would distribute the cure to his brother and everybody else, that they would even try to help restore peace on his planet. She can only imagine how he felt when he saw Dzarn about to double-cross them. It must have crushed him to see the Doctor left behind, Rose taken captive, and any possibility of the help she had promised completely destroyed. Did he try to stop Dzarn? She can’t imagine the leader reacting too well to insubordination. She hopes his punishment was only being left behind, and not something worse. Kaf, at least, doesn’t seem to think he’s dead.

Which brings her to the two scientists. It’s clear that Kaf and Czif don’t agree with Dzarn’s actions. And what’s more…

Ariz’s love definitely doesn’t seem one-sided.

As the quiet sobs eventually stop and the silence lengthens, Rose risks taking a peek into the room. Craning her neck, she can only just see Czif sitting down at a desk, her forehead resting on the palm of her hands, eyes shining with tears staring blankly in front of her.

Rose watches her for a moment, brow furrowed. She can see two different paths before her. She could wait patiently for the Doctor to rescue her, letting herself be the Drazfins’ guinea pig in the meantime, drugged and imprisoned. Could the Drazfins cause her real harm before the Doctor finds her? She’s not sure how far they would take these experiments, given the chance.

Or…

Or she could fight back, help herself. And maybe keep a few promises along the way.

Right. It’s an easy choice.

“Czif,” she calls softly.

The scientist starts and snaps her head in her direction. When she sees Rose awake and looking at her, she gets up hurriedly, almost turning her chair over in her haste.

“You – you’re awake! You’re not supposed to be, not yet! It took me over an hour to wake up, when _you_ stunned _me_ , so we thought we’d have more time to…”

“Well, I _am_ exceptional, apparently. It’s why you took me, after all. And… I’m sorry I stunned you before.”

“No, no, I understand _why_ you did it, of course… And, and _Dzarn_ decided to take you, I didn’t want – I mean… I – I shouldn’t be talking to you. I’m sorry, but I should probably, you know, sedate you…” she utters, flustered, moving towards the shelves full of chemicals on the other side of the room.

“Wait!” Rose exclaims. Czif pauses, a bottle full of clear liquid in her hand. “Please don’t, I promise I won’t try to escape. Besides, where would I go? We’re on your spaceship, aren’t we? I’m pretty much stuck here.”

“Well, I – I guess that’s true. But Dzarn won’t be happy if I keep you conscious. Unnecessary risks, and all that.”

“Then don’t tell him. He doesn’t need to know. I promise I won’t attack you. Anyway, even if I wanted to…” she trails off, tugging on her restraints to prove her point.

Czif looks between Rose and the vial in her hand, indecision clearly written on her face. She finally seems to reach a conclusion, and sets the vial down.

“Ariz said he trusted you, I guess I can do the same,” she whispers in a low voice that was probably not meant for Rose to hear. But it provides her with an opening she decides not to waste.

“You know, I talked with Ariz quite a bit when I was locked up in that cage. We got to know each other, and I consider him my friend. I know he got left behind, I heard. He tried to stop Dzarn, didn’t he? Do you want to know why he did that?”

Czif freezes, her eyes filling with fresh tears at the mention of the mention of Ariz. Rose feels a flash of remorse at the sight for bringing up a painful subject, but she pushes it down resolutely. She _needs_ to have this conversation with the young woman. Czif approaches slowly, coming to a stop next to the table Rose is lying down, and nods for her to continue.

“Well, other than simply standing up for a friend… Ariz told me about your leaders’ plan for the cure. They would let most of your population die, simply to seize power. Do you know who is included in that number? Ariz’s brother and his family. He has a wife and two kids.”

“Yeah, I know,” she murmurs. She pauses, closing her eyes, and a few tears slip away. “He told me about them. He was – he _is_ – heartbroken about them.”

“Me and the Doctor, we can help. We can help his brother, and everyone else that is not fortunate enough to be part of your faction. That’s what I told Ariz, that’s why he tried to stop Dzarn. I told him that once we were free to go, the Doctor would reproduce the cure on his own, and then we’d go to your planet and make sure _everyone_ had access to it.”

“You would have done that?” asks Czif, stunned.

“Yes. See, helping people, it’s a part of our lifestyle, to the Doctor and me. But it’s not too late, we can still do it. And we’re not just going to stop there. We want to help restore peace to your world.”

“Oh, right. That’s not ambitious at all.”

Rose chuckles in amusement.

“Yeah, I know it sounds impossible, but it’s not so far-fetched. We’ve done it before. Baby steps, that’s all. We can start with the cure, and go from there.”

Czif tentatively smiles back, but it transforms to a frown a moment later.

“That’s a great plan, I guess, but it doesn’t… it doesn’t change anything for Ariz, does it? I mean, he disobeyed orders. He won’t be able to come back to us, to… to me. They’re not going to just _forgive_ him.”

“Well, I’m thinking that if he brings the cure to the other factions, he’ll be pretty popular with _them_. The question then becomes, will _you_ stay on this side of the conflict while he is welcomed by another?”

Czif stares at her before turning her back to her and walking away a few steps. She pauses for a moment, back rigid, head cast down. When she turns around again, her face is impenetrable.

“I know what you want me to do. You want me to help you escape, so you can get back to your Doctor. What guarantee do I have that you will keep your word to Ariz, or to me?”

Rose takes the time to consider the woman in front of her before answering. She is a scientist, driven by facts. It’s only natural that she doubts an alien she doesn’t know when so much is at stake. But there is _another_ alien she knows better.

“Look, you may doubt _me_ , but you’ve met the Doctor. Within five minutes of meeting you, he had already volunteered to help save you species. And you’ve worked with him. You had a glimpse of his character. Does he seem like the kind of man to go back on his word?”

“No, he’s not,” Czif admits grudgingly.

“You also _know_ that Ariz is with the Doctor, and that the Doctor will come looking for me. So regardless of whether I’m lying or not– and I’m not, thank you very much – if you want to see Ariz again, your best bet is to stick with me.”

Rose can see that she is still hesitating, so she decides to give a final push. Always take a bet on love, anyway.

“Look. Ariz trusts me, you said so yourself. If you value _him_ , then you should value his judgement.”

Czif stares at her for a few seconds, eyes narrowed, as though she is trying to pry the truth from her mind. Rose doesn’t waver, holding her gaze firmly, trying with all her might to convey the truth of her words. After a moment, the scientist gives a small resolute nod.

“Fine. I’ll help you. As you said, Ariz believes in you. And although he’s generally too kind for his own good, I do trust his instinct. So, do you have a plan?”

Rose smiles brightly at the good news, but it turns into a small grimace as she tugs ineffectually on her restraints.

“Well, my plan doesn’t go very far beyond you getting me out of these. Since this is _your_ spaceship, and we’re on our way to _your_ planet, I think I could probably use your input.”

“Hmm… Let me think for a bit,” Czif replies, leaning pensively against the table.

While she waits for her new ally to come up with an idea, Rose can’t keep her thoughts from turning to the Doctor, to what he must be feeling right now.

He’ll be blaming himself for letting the Drazfins take her, that’s for sure. He’ll be angry, too. She remembers the look her first Doctor got, staring down the Daleks that had captured her. It still gives her chills to this day. She just hopes she can stop him before he does something he will regret later on.

God, she misses him already. She should be used to missing him, after all those years apart, but this is different. More visceral, more urgent. And it’s _this_ him she misses right now, this curly-haired, gentle-eyed version, more open and free than the others ever were.

She remembers his lips on her cheek, the way her heart beat violently at the sensation, heightened as it was by the telepathic link. She was sure that he could hear it, that she was hiding her feelings for him very poorly, and yet… nothing in his attitude towards her had spoken of rejection or reluctance. She wonders what he would do if, the next time they see each other, she just throws herself at him. Would he let her kiss him if she tried?

She’s certainly not sure if she will be able to summon the necessary restraint. She feels so frustrated at being separated from him again, so soon after finding him. She doesn’t want to dwell on it too much, but if she’s honest with herself, she’s a little… scared.

She’s fairly certain he’ll come for her – after all, she’s seen him do the impossible to save complete strangers before, and she’s certainly more than that to him now. But what if they can’t find each other? An entire planet is certainly large enough not to meet by accident. If she escapes her captors, how will he know where she goes?

Would it be best to stay put after all? Yes, she’d be a prisoner, a test subject, but at least he would know where she was, and with who. He’d be able to find her.

But…

No. The idea of being experimented on, unconscious and helpless… It repulses her. It goes against her training as a Torchwood operative, against every instinct she has. She’ll do what she thinks is right, and trust the universe for the rest.

After all, he Doctor finding her the first time was… unlikely, to say the least. They might just be lucky enough for it to happen a second time.

“I think I have an idea,” Czif states pensively, snapping her out of her thoughts. “We would need to wait until we reach Karzad, though. There’s not much we can do while we’re in flight.”

“But… won’t it be more risky? Once we land, there’s bound to be more of your people guarding me…”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why we will need to act _after_ we land, but _before_ they take you away. I think… Yes, there’s no other choice.” She pauses, looking at Rose tentatively. “Listen, if we’re going to do this, this trust thing needs to go both ways. So do you? Trust me?”

“Yeah, I do. Absolutely, I do,” answers Rose without any hesitation. She’s heard so much about her from Ariz, she can’t help but like the young scientist already.

Czif looks momentarily surprised by the swift reply, but after a beat a warm smile blooms on her face, to which Rose responds in kind. Something passes between them with this shared moment, and Czif’s reserve and wariness finally seems to melt away.

“Thank you,” she says in a low voice. She looks away, clears her throat, and when she looks back she is all business once more. “Ok, I know you won’t like it, but I _will_ need to sedate you for the rest of the trip. Let me finish!” she insists, raising a hand to silence Rose’s protests. “It would raise too much suspicion otherwise. Don’t worry, I’ll only _pretend_ to do tests on you. Dzarn is easily fooled. I’ll spew him some science jargon at him and he’ll go away. And I’ll give you a diluted form of the sedative, it will be just like a long nap.”

“Fine. Told you I trusted you, didn’t I?” Rose says with a teasing smile. “You’ll wake me when we land, though?”

“Yeah. And then, here’s what I’m thinking we could do…”

\-----------------------------------------

Rose regains consciousness to see Czif smiling nervously down at her, something cold and metallic pressing into her hand. Her stunner. Right.

It’s time.

She gives the scientist a small nod, to which she responds with a squeeze of her hand before moving away. Rose subtly tests her restraints to see that they have been loosened as promised: a sharp tug should be enough to free herself and allow her to raise her arm to aim.

“Kaf? Would you come here for a second?” Czif calls from outside her field of vision. There is an indistinct reply from the end of the corridor followed by approaching footsteps, and…

Rose straightens up, snapping her restraints, and in one swift motion hits Kaf with a blast of her stunner. Czif rushes over to catch him before he hits his head on the ground, gently lowering him down instead.

“Remind me again why we had to stun Kaf?” Rose asks, sitting up and shaking her head to clear away the remnants of dizziness from the sedatives. She watches Czif rummage through shelves, packing up the last few things they need in a bag. They are bringing samples of the finished cure with them, in case the Doctor doesn’t catch up to them in time.

“I told you, Dzarn is already suspicious of him, I wanted him to appear as innocent as he is. Stunning him should do the trick. I’m sure he would have liked to help, if we’d told him what we were planning, but… he has family. I didn’t want him to take this risk. He can’t leave them behind to come with us.”

“What about you? Don’t you have anyone? Last chance to change your mind,” says Rose, slipping off the examination table to retrieve her jacket, thrown carelessly in a corner of the room.

Czif stays silent for a long moment, shouldering the bag as she straightens up.

“No,” she finally replies in a low voice. “Without Ariz… there’s nothing left for me here.”

Rose nods in understanding as she puts on her jacket. She feels a foreign weight in her inner pocket and, reaching inside, her fingers close around a familiar shape. The sonic screwdriver. The memory of the Doctor giving it to her right before they were attacked resurfaces, and she smiles in satisfaction. That could come in handy.

Czif is taking one last look around her, making sure she has everything, when her gaze lands on her human companion.

“Oh! I almost forgot!”

She opens her bag again and takes out a piece of cloth, which she throws to Rose. She unfolds it to reveal a long hooded robe.

“Here, put this on. It’s a priest’s robe. It should conceal you at long range, at least. You’re way too noticeable, with your skin and hair color. We used the same thing to move around on Earth without attracting too much attention. Alright, ready? Let’s go,” she beckons over, walking to the threshold of the door.

“Are you sure Firzian is in the control room?” whispers Rose as she follows Czif into the corridor. Under any other circumstances she would have taken the time to admire the design of the ship, the orange glow exuding from the walls, but instead she focuses on scanning her surroundings for any sudden movement, any suspicious sound.

“Yes, I’m sure. She’s verifying the systems, someone always has to do it after a long trip.”

“And there’s no one else on board?”

“No, no one. It’s protocol for the mission leader – that’s Dzarn – to leave first for debriefing while the rest of the crew wait on board for the all clear. Now, shh, we’re almost there.”

Czif points to an open door, at the end of the corridor, and Rose nods in acknowledgement. She creeps forward, as silently as she can, and presses herself on the wall at the threshold of the room. She leans over and peeks inside, retracting her head quickly. Firzian is sitting next to a panel of controls, her back partly turned away from the entrance, slightly to the left of the room.

Rose closes her eyes, steeling herself. There was a gun at the Drazfins’ feet, and she’s not willing to bet her life on the fact that a shot from it wouldn’t kill her yet again. She’ll have to be quick.

One deep breath in.

Slowly breathe out.

 _Go_.

She crosses the threshold, raises her arms and shoots. Firzian barely has time to turn fully towards the door before she is hit. She slumps on her chair, unconscious, and Rose can breathe again.

“Well done,” says Czif, walking into the room after her. “Now, this should only take me a second.”

She rushes to one of the control panels and, rummaging through her bag, takes out a small device which she inserts into an opening in the console. She watches with satisfaction as it lights up, powering on, and starts entering data on the pad next to it.

“So how does this work?” asks Rose after watching in silence for a moment.

“It’s basically a genomic localizer. It connects to our satellite network – without triggering any interference safeguards, that wasn’t easy – and locates the pattern that most closely matches the one I’m feeding it, which is from Ariz. This should allow us to locate his brother.”

Rose lets out a low whistle, impressed by the scientist.

“You were able to build this by yourself on this short return trip? That’s impressive.”

“Well, thanks, but that’s not exactly true. When the war started, Ariz told me about his brother, how he’d lost all contact with him, and he… he just looked so miserable. I couldn’t take it, I _had_ to help him. I started working on this in my free time. Didn’t want to get his hopes up, though, so I never mentioned it. Then this damn disease broke out, and I was told about the cure, I just… Well, I swore to myself I would finish it, whatever it took… Ah! I’m in!” she exclaims as the device beeps once and data starts streaming on one of the displays. “Should take less than a minute to locate him.”

She straightens up to see Rose beaming at her, a delighted look on her face.

“What?”

“You did all this for Ariz,” Rose says softly. “You should tell him, you know, the next time you see him. I don’t think he realizes how important he is to you.”

Czif looks away, a blush rising to her cheeks. She starts when her device beeps a second time and hurriedly turns away to look at the monitor.

“Found him!” She presses a few keys and pauses, a frown on her face. “That’s strange, he’s not in Trakhan territory, where I thought he would be… He’s in the wastelands, between borders. What is he doing there?”

“Are you sure it worked properly?” asks Rose.

“Yeah, it worked. I’m _sure_ it did.”

“Then let’s go have a look. The plan is to steal a ship, right?”

“Right, but not this one,” she replies as she disconnects her device and stuffs it back into her bag. “It’s too easily traceable, and Kaf and Firzian are on board. Let’s have a look outside, there should be others parked nearby.”

Rose follows Czif back into the corridor, past the room where she was kept unconscious, all the way into what looks like a small decompression chamber. Czif pauses next to the input pad next to the exit door and looks over her shoulder at her companion.

“You better get take stunner of yours ready again. There might be guards outside.”

Rose nods and positions herself behind the edge of the door, gun raised and ready to aim. Czif pushes a few keys on the pad and the door slides open, revealing the open space beyond. She peeks past the threshold and cautiously takes a few steps outside before signalling Rose to follow.

They emerge in some sort of large hangar, with ships of all sizes parked all around them. There is no one in their immediate area, but a few people are scattered here and there, chatting, doing repairs or simply milling around. Czif scans their surroundings while Rose gazes at the sight, momentarily dazed by the bright light streaming in after days of confinement.

She is brought back to attention when her companion leans in close to whisper in her ear.

“There’s a prowler over there that should do the job, nearly undetectable in flight. If we stay calm and walk at a normal pace, we shouldn’t attract too much attention. So hide your gun, but keep it close just in case.”

Together they make their way towards one side of the room, taking detour between ships and crates of merchandise to avoid walking too close to anybody. Rose keeps a firm hold on the handle of her stunner, hidden in the pocket of her robe, heart hammering in her chest and fighting the urge to run every time she catches a glimpse of a Drazfin.

Finally Czif stops next to one of the smallest ships, barely large enough to hold two people, but of an elegantly aerodynamic design seems to indicate speed as well as stealth.

“This one,” she whispers, turning to the pad next to the door, when a sudden shout startles them both.

“Hey! What are you doing here? Turn around so I can see you!”

They share a panicked look before Czif subtly raises her palm, telling Rose to stay still while she obeys, turning around and walking a few steps away.

“Oh, Czif, it’s just you,” the Drazfin calls out, his tone shifting to something more friendly. “What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Larz,” she answers with a nervous smile. ”We just landed, and I know I shouldn’t be out, but I’ve been cooped up inside for days. I wanted some fresh air. And then I saw this beauty here, I just had to come take a closer look,” she adds, gesturing towards the prowler.

“Yeah, I guess I can understand. Who’s your friend?”

“Um… Well…”

As Czif tenses, hesitating, Rose tightens her grip on her stunner. She has no choice. She turns around slowly, keeping her head resolutely hidden under her hood. She can see the Drazfin still some distance away, striding towards them with a gun strapped to his back.

She catches Czif’s eyes and nods almost imperceptibly. Three more steps and he will be in range of her stunner. Two.

In one swift practiced motion, she raises the hand holding her gun, takes aim and shoots. The blast reverberates loudly in the room as the Drazfin falls to the ground, stunned.

“Okay, now we _really_ have to hurry!” Czif exclaims, turning back towards the prowler as shouts start ringing out from the other people in the room, alerted by the noise. She enters a few commands on the pad, which flashes red. She swears, tried again. Same result.

“I can’t open the door!” she cries, starting to panic. “It’s in security lockdown! I could bypass it, but it would take a few minutes, we don’t have that long, they’ll catch us, and then – “

“Czif, Czif, calm down, we have to _think_ , there has to be something else we – Oh! I know!” says Rose, reaching inside her jacket for the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver. Pushing the scientist out of the way, she holds it up to the pad with shaky hands, fumbling with the settings. If this one is like her other Doctor’s sonic, setting 409B should… just…

Rose lets out a victory cry as the door slides open. She rushes inside, pulling her companion in with her.

“Czif, hurry! Can you fly it? We need to go now!”

“I – yes, I think… Yes, I can fly it,” she says, sitting down in front of the controls. She presses a few buttons and switches on the control panel and the ship powers on with an almost noiseless hum.

“Ok, calm down Czif, you know this.” Rose hears her companion mumble as her hands fly over the controls. “First, engage flight control… Good. Next, correct the heading... Then activate the cloaking system…”

The ship takes flight fluidly, escaping the hangar through one of the open doors and veering sharply to the right as it gains altitude. Rose barely has time to glimpse the sprawling city below before they lose themselves in the clouds. After a moment Czif reclines on her seat, eyes closed, and sighs heavily.

“Czif, we did it. _You_ did it. We’re safe,” Rose assures her, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. She opens her eyes and gives her a tired smile, squeezing her hand in return.

“Yeah, for now. Let’s just hope finding Ariz’s brother will be a bit less stressful.”

\------------------------------------------------

The console beeps loudly, startling them both.

“Are we there?” asks Rose, stretching her arms above her head.

The cloaking device couldn’t function above a certain speed, and consequentially the journey had taken much longer than they had anticipated. Worn out from the adrenaline of their escape, and with the ship on an automatic course to the correct coordinates, they had both dozed off in their seats.

“Yeah, on a descending approach now,” Czif answers after taking a look at the monitors. “We’ll be there in a minute.”

They both watch through the viewport as the ground below gets closer and closer. Rose remembers Czif calling it a wasteland, and that wasn’t an exaggeration. It’s all dirt, rocks and dried grass, as far as the eye can see. There’s no movement on the ground, no indication that anyone has been there recently.

“Are you sure we have the right place? There’s nothing here.”

“Yes, that’s the coordinates the device gave me. Right there,” she indicates, as the ship slows to a stop and hovers over a deserted spot exactly like any other in the area.

“He’s obviously not there, but we might as well go and have a look.”

They land and exit the prowler, taking a few steps outside. It’s scorching hot, as expected from a desert, and Rose squints against the light of the sun. It’s bigger than on Earth, and more of an orange color, a definite reminder that she is on an alien planet.

“Do you see anything?” she asks Czif, who has moved some distance away. She walks up to her and sees that she has taken out her device and is examining its display.

“No, but… I don’t understand. It worked, I’m sure it did!”

“Well, maybe he left already. I guess there’s no reason to linger in a place like this. Or maybe… I don’t know, maybe he’s hiding or something. Underground, maybe?”

“Brilliant deduction, well done. Now both of you, turn around slowly, hands in the air.”

A cold voice rings out from behind them, making them both jump in surprise. They turn to see over a dozen armed Drazfins moving to encircle them. The one that has spoken – clearly the leader – is standing a few meters away, a gun pointed at them.

“Take off your hood,” he instructs Rose, who is still wearing her disguise. He hears gasps all around her when her pale skin and yellow hair are revealed, a clear deviation from Drazfin blue.

“What the… An alien?” exclaims the leader, taken aback, as every gun becomes trained on her. “What are you doing here? What do you want?”

Rose is about to answer when a familiar whirring noise stops her.

The TARDIS is materialising a few meters away from her.

“Doctor!” gasps Rose.

The Drazfins jump in surprise at the blue box taking shape out of nothingness next to them. Most of them hurriedly back away, astonishment and fear taking over their discipline, when the voice of the leader brings them back to order.

“Encircle the box, now! Weapons ready, hold fire!” he shouts. As his men obey, he turns back to Rose and Czif, his gun still aimed at them. “What is this thing? Answer me!”

“ _Get that gun away from them_!”

The doors of the TARDIS have opened in a volley and the Doctor is standing on the threshold, fury written all over his face.

“Stay where you are! Don’t move! Men, take aim!” the leader yells in return, tightening his hold on his weapon.

“I said stop pointing that gun at them! Let them go!” roars the Doctor, striding towards them menacingly, completely disregarding the weapons trained on him.

“Stop right there! Stop or you will be shot!”

Rose watches the scene with bewilderment, stunned at the sudden turn of events. As the Doctor continues to advance towards them, resolutely ignoring the orders of the Drazfin leader, she can feel the tension in the air escalate, and a wave of terror hits her. Suddenly, she knows with absolute certainty what will happen in the next few seconds.

One of the Drazfins, already on edge with everything that has just occurred, will lose all control under the imposing threat of the advancing alien. He will shoot, the blast of energy hitting the Doctor straight in the chest and sending him crashing to the ground. After a moment of absolute stillness, during which all eyes will be fixed on the prostrate form of the Doctor, the blinding glow of regeneration will engulf his body, inciting panic yet again. And then, under the perceived threat of the unknown energy, a second shot will be fired, ending it all.

She can _see_ it, see it as clearly as if it had already happened. In that fraction of a second, stretching out as though it was frozen in time, she _knows_ , and her whole being rebels against that certainty. She rushes towards the Doctor, unaware of the golden light surrounding her, of the suddenly slowed movements of everyone around her. Her whole awareness, the sole focus of her being is that she reaches the Doctor before that shot hits him.

She throws herself over him as she reaches him, toppling them both to the ground as the world accelerates once again around her, regaining its normal pace as the energy blast just misses the top of her head.

“You’re safe,” she whispers, ignoring the incredulous look he is giving her.

Then the golden light fades away, and darkness consumes her.


	10. Chapter 10

_“Alright, well, if that’s all, I really need to dash,” the Doctor says, walking back to the TARDIS. “I’ll come back and check on him later.” He disappears inside the TARDIS, but pops his head back out a second later._

_“Oh, I forgot to mention, he might be a little agitated when he first wakes up. Try to keep him calm, will you? It will be best for his health.”_

After closing the doors of the TARDIS one final time on UNIT and its petrified nurse, the Doctor takes a moment to rest against them, eyes closed.

Finally. Finally, he’s done with all these distractions that were stopping him from doing what he really wants. He’s finally free to go after those Drazfins, after _Dzarn_ , and get Rose out of their grasp. He’ll go to Karzad, he’ll find wherever they are keeping her, and he’ll save her, he’ll –

What if he can’t? What if he gets there too late? What if he can’t find her? What if she tries to escape by herself, and they _hurt_ her? What if –

No, he has to stop thinking that way. He can’t start overthinking or doubting his every move. He takes a deep breath even as he feels himself becoming tense, the cold resolve that had taken hold of him when he realized they had taken Rose away rapidly dissolving.

“Doctor?”

His eyes snap open and focus on Ariz, standing uncertainly in the middle of the console room. He had almost forgotten the Drazfin was there. He forces himself to smile at his companion while trying to stamp away his fears.

“Ah, Ariz, yes, I’m sorry, I was just planning our next move,” he lies smoothly as he pushes himself away from the doors. “My ship provided me with coordinates that would bring us to your planet, shall we go and see where?”

He strides towards the console with more confidence than he feels, Ariz following in his wake, a puzzled look on his face.

“Wait, your _ship_ gave you coordinates? How does your ship know where we should go? And… and how did it just… appear in the room before? How did it do that? And where did you bring that man? Have we moved? Is that what all the noise and the shaking was about, just now?”

The Doctor chuckles at the barrage of questions as he leans against the console to look at his companion, thankful for the distraction.

“Yes, the materialization does tend to be a bit shaky, doesn’t it? Anyway, yes, we did move. Look,” he adds, bringing him in front of the monitor displaying the scene outside the ship.

The nurse has finally snapped out of his stupor and called for reinforcement. The Doctor smirks when he sees the dozen armed guards circling the TARDIS, guns raised and puzzled expressions on their faces. They don’t know him in this universe, then, or they would have recognized the blue box.

He engages the dematerialization sequence to send them into the vortex and returns to watch the video vanish on the display, amused at the incredulous expressions of the guards watching them as they disappear, before turning back to the Drazfin besides him.

“As to where we were, that was just some old friends of mine. Well, not exactly, _they_ don’t know me, but by chance they seem precisely like the other bunch, so it should be fine. They’ll take care of our man while we’re away. Anyway, we just moved again. We’re kind of… nowhere at the moment.”

Ariz looks at him with wide, fearful eyes, and he waves away his concern.

“Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe inside the TARDIS. That’s my ship, the TARDIS. She can travel anywhere in space, at any point in time.”

“Alright, this time I’ll ask. She?”

“Mhmm, sentient ship. I think she’s forged some sort of… special connection with Rose, and that’s how she knows where to go. Anymore questions?”

Ariz shakes his head, baffled.

“Good!” the Doctor says, clapping his hands. “Well, let’s not waste any more time, shall we?”

He turns back towards the console, preparing for their flight to Karzad. As he resets the coordinates to what the TARDIS gave him earlier, his enthusiasm dissipates, a new wave of fear crashing over him. Without any distraction left, he has no choice but to turn his mind to what he is about to do, and he can’t deny how scared he is.

The Drazfins want to study her, to replicate whatever miracle has made her survive their energy blast, so of course they would want to keep her alive, but… What if they can’t get it right? They are certainly not experts on humans, if their latest captive is any indication. Just trying to keep the poor man alive under sedation seemed too much of a challenge for them.

Even if they _don’t_ kill her by inadvertence… What if they hurt her beyond repair, the damage to her body, or to her mind, too extensive? Assuredly, with the TARDIS medical bay, he can heal most things, but… there’s a limit to what even he can do.

And what if… what if he can’t find her? An entire planet is certainly big enough to hide a single human. What if he searches in vain, what if Rose slowly loses faith in him with every passing day until she loses the will to fight her imprisonment, until she gives up? Or what if she gets tired of waiting and she tries to escape by herself, only to get shot by another one of these deadly energy blasts?

No, no, his ship provided him with coordinates, surely she must know where to go to save her. It’s just like he imagined before, some sort of link must have forged between them when Rose looked into the heart of the TARDIS. He has to trust his ship.

On this final thought he pulls the dematerialization lever, sending them careening through the vortex toward whatever awaits them on the Drazfins’ planet.

“Come on, old girl, this is where you wanted to go, this is where Rose is waiting for us!” he eggs the TARDIS on as he watches on the display the coordinates get closer and closer to their destination.

Just a little… bit… further…

Mere seconds before they would have landed, the TARDIS jolts violently, sending both him and Ariz sprawling to the ground. The ship is groaning and shaking, as though straining under some tremendous effort. As the Doctor is getting to his feet, another jolt shakes the room, and he pushes himself up with difficulty, using the console as support. The TARDIS is in pain, and it resonates inside his head, making it difficult for him to focus.

“Doctor, what’s the matter?” calls Ariz, gripping one of the metallic pillars as he tries to stay on his feet amidst the tremors in the room.

“I’m not sure!” he shouts, rushing around the console, frantically adjusting controls in an attempt at rectifying the situation. “Something’s interfering with her systems, keeping her from locking on to the correct coordinates to materialize. She’s trying to fight it, but she can’t – Ah!”

A new quake sends him crashing to the ground again where he stays, unmoving.

“Doctor!” calls Ariz.

All around him the console room is in disarray – bookcases falling over, sending their contents spilling to the ground, chair and table overturning, lamps smashing down into pieces. Ariz rushes over to the Doctor when he gets no response, stumbling himself as the shaking of the room intensifies. When he finally reaches him, he kneels next to him and shakes him by the shoulders.

“Doctor! Come on, wake up!” he cries frantically as the chaos around him worsens, lights flashing and smoke beginning to fill the room.

After a few moments the Doctor groans, raising a hand to his head, before opening his eyes with a wince.

“Ugh, the TARDIS, she’s in so much pain… Ariz, help me get up, I have to – I have to send us back to the vortex.”

With Ariz supporting him, he traipses slowly around the console, changing the controls to abort their flight and send them drifting into the time vortex. As he pulls the final lever, the violent quakes in the room instantly recede, the light in the room coming back to illuminate the devastation of the room amidst a screen of smoke.

The TARDIS hums weakly as the Doctor collapses on the console, the pain in his head subsiding but leaving him shaky. He takes a moment to rest, the smooth wood of the console pressing against his forehead helping him focus once more. Taking a deep breath, he finally straightens up and turns around, sullenly contemplating the wreckage in the room.

“Doctor?” Ariz pipes up tentatively after a stretched silence. “What now? Is there- is there anything we can do?”

“I don’t know,” he answers in a drained voice. “As I said, something was interfering with her ability of locking on to specific coordinates, I’m not sure what it is. We could probably land, but we would have no way of controlling the time or place. It could be anywhere on your planet, anytime in the past or future. The TARDIS was straining to get to the correct coordinates, but it was… hurting her. I think – I think it’s crucial that we land at the correct place and time, for Rose. The TARDIS seems to think so.”

“So… what’s the plan?”

The Doctor runs a hand down his face, trying to stamp down the weariness taking hold of him. He had been so, so close. It feels like the whole universe is conspiring to keep her from him.

What option does he have now? There doesn’t seem to be any choice other than land somewhere random, and try to fix the problem once they’re safely materialized. If something’s interfering with the TARDIS systems, it has to be coming from somewhere down on the planet. If he could find it, and fix it… then he could go to the correct coordinates.

But it’s dangerous, he knows it is. When he lands somewhere, he becomes part of that timeline. What if while he’s down there he learns about the fate of a human female, kept prisoner for decades until she withered away and died? Then he could do nothing to change it, it would be too late. Or he could… he could risk a paradox, go back and save her, but… the last time he did that, things didn’t turn out too well.

No, no. There has to be something he can do from here. From inside the vortex. He just has to figure out what.

He can’t lose hope, not now.

“I have to… I have to find the cause of the interference, and then maybe I can cancel it out from here. I need to study the TARDIS systems, it might take a while…”

He turns back to the console, absorbing himself into his work with desperation. Ariz watches him for a while before walking away, looking with a sigh at the complete chaos of the console room before wandering away in search of a broom. He might as well clean up a bit while he’s waiting.

\------------

He’s seen this same problem before.

The result of his analysis of the TARDIS’ systems seems strangely familiar, a half-forgotten memory floating at the edges of his mind. He’s not sure where or when he encountered this type of interference, if it was in this body or another, or what he did to fix it, but… he’s sure he _has_ fixed it before.

Although… the last time this happened, it is very probable that neither him nor the TARDIS cared about where they landed. He probably let the interference carry them where it would and corrected the problem once safely on the ground. Things are different this time.

Come to think of it, they are different in many ways. He was in an entirely different universe last time, too, and maybe that is part of the problem. In parallel universes things tend to repeat, with only… slight… differences…

He’s been to Karzad before, in his original universe. He met Drazfins. They were a peaceful race back then, they had been kind to him, helping him when he crash landed after he had encountered a strange energy signature. A strange energy signature that was interfering with the TARDIS systems.

Yes, of course. He remembers now. The Drazfins in his universe had just finished developing a new kind of energy source, but they were unwittingly tapping into the vortex itself, which was… extremely dangerous without the proper precautions. He had helped them isolate their system so that they could use it safely, and so that it would be safe for others, too.

But most importantly, he had built a device before leaving, a safeguard so that should they ever encounter the same problem again, the TARDIS wouldn’t be affected by the interference. He had installed it onto the TARDIS systems, and promptly forgotten about it once he left.

“Ariz,” he calls out. “This may seem like a strange question, but… The main energy source on your planet, what is it?”

The Drazfin pauses, his arms full of books he has collected from the ones scattered all over the console room. He looks at the Doctor with a frown.

“Um… They explained it to us at school, it’s, um… They open up small pockets of space by separating… some kind of particles, and it, it releases a lot of energy. I could never really… understand it, I – Czif could explain it better… Anyway, it’s highly effective, but also… very dangerous. There have been tons of accidents, and – ”

“Yes! Perfect! Exactly as I thought!”

“I – Sorry, what?”

“I know how to get us out of this!”

With a grin towards his confused companion, the Doctor dives under the console in search of the device. It should still be there, he’s sure of it, and it should still work. It’s probably only due to a slight variation in energy signature that it _hadn’t_ worked, just now.

After all, parallel universes tend to thrive on slight variations of the same patterns.

So if he can just find the device… and tweak it… it might just allow him to stick the landing.

He lets out a triumphant cry as he finds it as he remembers it, linked to the TARDIS systems and still functional.

Now, _now_ , everything will be fine.

\------------

“Alright, Ariz, get ready for take two!”

The Doctor emerges from underneath the console, hands and face grimy from grease and TARDIS fluids but feeling more energized than ever. After some careful analysis of the last flight’s data and with some tweaking, he’s now positive that they will be able to land unhindered, at the correct time and place.

From what he can tell of the excited hums of the TARDIS, she’s certain of it, as well.

He grabs a towel kindly brought to him by his ship and wipes himself before looking around him, surprised by his companion’s lack of response. He blinks in surprise at how much cleaner the room looks – Ariz has certainly not wasted any time.

The lighter bookcases have been righted and books have been stacked next to them in neat little piles, the ones damaged by their tumble set aside so he can decide what to do with them. The shards of glass from broken lamps have been cleared away, the desk cleaned of debris. And there, in the middle of all this, on one of the large armchairs, Ariz is dozing off.

The Doctor approaches him quietly and contemplates him for a moment. He looks absolutely drained, now that his features are not animated by his usual liveliness it. In the middle of everything that has happened, he had forgotten that the Drazfin was sick, too. He remembers Czif telling him that the five of them were among the least sick of their faction, but that the progression of the disease was always unpredictable, and sometimes lightning fast.

It was certainly catching up to Ariz now.

Now that he thinks about it, they had been taking daily pills to slow down the disease and hide its effects, but they had been forced to leave most of their stock behind. Worried, he wonders how long it is since Ariz has taken one.

Once he gets Rose back, he can focus on mass producing the cure for the whole planet. But first things first.

He walks back to the console, intent on letting his companion sleep. He can rescue Rose on his own, there is no need to put the Drazfin in unnecessary danger, not in his condition.

Stamping down on his nervousness, he darts around the console, tweaking dials and pressing buttons to send them to the correct coordinates once more. He scans the displays nervously as they plunge through the vortex towards their destination, half expecting the TARDIS to start shaking in pain at any moment.

What if… what if he has adjusted the device incorrectly, what if some small mistake on his part makes them land at the wrong place, the wrong time, despite the TARDIS’ best efforts to prevent it? What if –

They land with only minimal jolting, and the Doctor breathes out a sigh of relief when the correct coordinates flash on the display. He rushes over to the monitor, eager to figure out _where_ exactly his ship has sent him.

What he sees makes his blood freeze in his veins.

Rose, her hands in the air, a dozen guns trained on her.

Something inside him snaps.

\------------

Striding forward and engaged in a shouting match with the Drazfin still holding a gun to Rose, he ignores everything else around him, his mind only focused on the woman’s safety. She is looking at him with joy which quickly morphs into concern and horror, and he wants to erase that expression from her face forever, he never again wants her to be –

He freezes in surprise as she starts to glow, an ethereal golden light that first illuminates her eyes before diffusing over her entire body. She runs towards him and he can only watch in shock as the web of time dances around her in a slowed motion. Fractions of a second trickle by as an eternity, and he is rooted to the spot. She looks like a goddess.

Suddenly he is on his back, staring up at Rose, a blast of energy going through the space he occupied not a second ago.

“You’re safe,” she whispers.

Before he can do anything other than look at her in wonder, the golden light fades, leaving her paler than he has ever seen her. When it has completely disappeared she collapses in his arms.

A stupefied silence settles over the wastelands, every Drazfin watching as the Doctor slowly raises himself to his knees, cradling the woman’s body in his arms. He brushes her hair away from her face, calling her name.

No response.

In the middle of this hushed scene, Ariz emerges from the TARDIS doors, half yawning, bleary eyes unfocused.

“Doctor, are we – “

Every set of eyes but the Doctor’s turn towards him and he freezes, instantly awakened by the sight before him. He scans the scene with wide eyes, his gaze resting on the Doctor and Rose before taking in the armed men surrounding them, before finally stopping on a Drazfin standing in the middle, arms still held loosely in the air even though the gun trained on her has been lowered in surprise.

“Czif!”

He rushes towards her, engulfing her in his arms before the men, astonished by this new arrival, have time to react. Czif stands still for a moment, staring at him in shock before throwing her arms around him.

“Ariz…” she breathes out, her voice full of wonder.

“Czif, are you alright? What happened? Who are these people?”

Around them the armed Drazfins shuffle uncertainly, their gazes going between the Doctor cradling Rose in his arms, and Ariz and Czif embracing in their midst, uncertain which of them – if any – poses a greater threat. Suddenly a voice rings out amongst the murmurs that are starting to rise.

“Ariz?”

Ariz looks up, scanning the faces there in surprise. When his gaze lands on the person that has spoken his eyes widen.

“Azan? Is that you?”

Instead of answering the Drazfin rushes towards him, throwing his gun on the ground as he runs.

“Stand down! Everyone, stand down! It’s my brother!”

Confusion erupts among the Drazfins as Ariz and his brother embrace, a tumult of voices rising in exclamations and questions.

While this scene is unraveling around him, the Doctor has not taken his eyes away from the woman in his arms. He brushes a few errant strands of hair away from her face, calling her name as he tries to rouse her without success. She is so pale, her heartbeat incredibly weak, her breathing faint. His hearts squeeze painfully as he is reminded of the first time he saw her, lying still in an deserted corridor. He had thought she was dead, at first, and when he realised she was not, he had been scared of losing her before he could bring her to the TARDIS. This was not a sight he’d had any wish to see again.

Of course, she _did_ get better then, but he has no idea how. She just… improved on her own. He looks at her pale features, hoping for this to happen again, for her to open her eyes, or even just breathe normally again, but with every second that passes he begins to despair.

No, there’s still hope. The TARDIS. He can bring her to the TARDIS infirmary. He rises, Rose in his arms, as Ariz and his brother are embracing, no one paying him any mind any longer. He strides inside his ship without looking back, and kicks the doors closed behind him.

He immediately heads for the infirmary, striding across the console room with a sense of urgency. He is about halfway there when the doorway leading to the rest of the ship suddenly disappears, morphing into the solid wall surrounding it. He comes to a grinding halt, glaring at the time rotor besides him.

“What are you playing at? This is no time for games, let me through!”

His glare changes to a frown of worry as he notices that the thrum of the TARDIS has changed from its usual low, regular vibration to an almost feverish pitch. His concern increases when he feels the air itself shift, some kind of energy slowly permeating the room and making his skin prickle. He approaches the console cautiously for a better look.

“Are you alright, old girl? What… ”

He trails off as the console starts to glow, the golden halo slowly surrounding it vibrating and intensifying with each thrum of the TARDIS. He watches, stupefied, as every single particle of the luminescent cloud swirls around the time rotor in an effervescent chaos, the light it is emitting steadily increasing. Then suddenly the chaos seems to rearrange itself, the golden dust coalescing into a single whirling stream of energy that pulsates once, twice, before detaching itself from the console to pour towards where he is standing, petrified, with Rose in his arms.

He regains his senses just as the luminous stream is about to reach them. This is the same light that was surrounding Rose only minutes before, as she was rushing towards him, time itself slowing around her. How… how did it get on her before, and how is it here now? Is it sentient? What does it want? Whatever it is, it can’t be good.

He takes a hasty step backwards to escape it, but the stream of energy seems to be following him, gaining on him as he backs away. As it finally reaches them it aggregates around the woman in his arms, engulfing her in golden light even as he tries to shield her from it. As the last of the cloud surrounds her it suddenly surges to a blinding intensity, forcing the Doctor to avert his eyes as he falls onto his knees. He can _feel_ the energy on his skin where it touches Rose, but it doesn’t hurt – rather, he is sensing the sheer power of it, vibrating in a wild rhythm in sync with the insistent thrums of the TARDIS. He opens his eyes again to see the light seeping into Rose’s every pore, her hair billowing around her as it almost seems to liquefy into the golden aura surrounding her.

Instead of alarm or worry, he only feels awe as he watches the light dance on her skin. All of his earlier panic is gone, leaving in its place a sense of comfort. The energy is oddly familiar, soothing, like a song he has known all his life. Somehow… somehow he knows that it isn’t hurting Rose, invading her body or her mind, it is helping her, it is _part_ of her.

He has never seen anything more beautiful.

The intensity of the light gradually diminishes as the energy is absorbed into Rose, until only a soft golden glow radiating from her skin remains. He watches with bated breath as even this last glimmer is finally extinguished, leaving Rose looking perfectly healthy, her paleness gone. A wave of relief crashes over him as he feels the steady beat of her heart, her calm and peaceful breath. She simply seems to be sleeping.

“Rose…” he breathes out.

A hush has fallen over the room, the rush of energy gone, the hum of the TARDIS now low and subdued. His pounding hearts and shaky breath resonate in the silence as he tightens his arms around Rose and buries his nose in her hair.

He has longed for her, ever since they were separated. He can’t explain it, this sudden, overwhelming and irrepressible attraction he has felt towards her, almost from the moment they first met, but he doesn’t try to deny it any longer. He can’t. He looks at her, safe in his arms, and he feels as though one of his hearts might burst.

She’s alive. She’s alive, and she’s with him again. By some incredible miracle, she has come back to him from the brink of death for the second time in only a few days. He’ll be damned if he lets there be a third.

He stands up and notices for the first time the dimness of the room, the unusually quiet humming of the TARDIS. Has she been injured by the energy pouring out from her console? He takes a step towards it, unsure of what he should do, when he feels a small mental push towards the door leading away from the console room, now back in its normal place.

“Old girl…?”

She nudges him again, humming once in a reassuring way, and he stops hesitating.

“Right,” he says with a nod. He’ll see to Rose, first. Securing her tightly in his arms, he strides out of the console room and into the infirmary.

\------------

After checking and re-checking the results of his test, he is forced to start believing what they say.

It is incredible, amazing, absolutely _terrifying_. His head is spinning with the possible ramifications as he sits staring at the monitor. This is…

Something that could have killed her ages ago. It could still kill her now.

The memory of what she said, when she told him about the time she looked into the heart of the TARDIS, flashes back in his mind.

_It was hurting me, though, so you took it out of me, and… well, that’s it._

_Um, no, you never ran any tests. We were… kinda preoccupied right after that._

He has the greatest urge to find his future self and hit him so hard he’ll feel the reverberations all the way into _this_ body. How could he turn into such an idiot? How could he not have realized what had happened?

Thud – Thud – Thud

No, it’s too unbelievable that he would miss something like this. The energy has merged with every single cell in her body, he would have detected it at the first sprained wrist, the first scratch that would have required the infirmary. And he’s sure he hasn’t changed enough by then that his companions won’t need patching up any longer.

Could the energy have come from somewhere else?

No, no, there’s no way this could come from anywhere other than the heart of the TARDIS. The energy signature is too specific, too perfectly matched. Then… this means it was dormant in her system all that time. What made it awaken? It had to be before he found her in that old warehouse, but after his future self went away.

Thud – Thud – Thud

Could it have happened when they shot her? Could that energy blast that should have killed her have made the energy react, given it the necessary boost? And once it was awake… did it protect her? Did it heal her?

This is a possibility, but there’s more to it than that. What she did outside, the way she slowed down time as she rushed towards him, that couldn’t have been just the result of latent energy. That was… something different altogether. Was she able to tap into the energy’s power instinctively? Then how –

_Thud_ – _Thud_ – _Thud_ –

The sound finally breaks through his thoughts, and he becomes conscious of the relentless pounding on the TARDIS doors, an indistinct voice shouting along with the noise.

His first instinct is to ignore it. Whoever is outside can wait, perhaps indefinitely. He has had enough of Drazfins. Ever since he and Rose met that race, they have been shot at, stunned, imprisoned, kidnapped. He just wants to be left alone with her. He wants to send the TARDIS into the vortex and look over her until she wakes up.

He wonders how long that will be. According to his tests, she is not simply sleeping. She has apparently put herself into some sort of healing coma, very similar to what Time Lords use to recuperate. The fact that she was able to do that amazes him. The energy doesn’t seem to be just protecting her, it’s enabling her to do things a human would never have been able to do.

_Thud_ – _Thud_ – _Thud_ –

He groans, letting his head drop into his hands. He doesn’t want to answer the door. He doesn’t want any more distractions. He just wants Rose to wake up, and then he wants to…

What, exactly?

He wants to run more tests, of course. And talking would probably be a good idea, too. He wonders if she will remember anything when she wakes up. He should explain to her what has happened, what she did for him. She _saved_ him, that amazing woman. That blast of energy would have certainly reached him if she hadn’t rushed towards him and thrown him on the ground.

He lifts his head to look at her, by all appearances sleeping peacefully in the infirmary bed, her hair a golden halo around her head, and he realizes what he _wants_ , most of all… is to touch her, to hold her, to settle in her mind and never, _ever_ , be separated from her again.

He lets out a shaky breath as he imagines her opening her eyes, a smile slowly forming on her lips as she catches sight of him. He would stand next to her bed, brushing that lock of hair away from her face, and she would blush, wide whisky eyes gazing up at him. Her eyes would flit to his lips, sending a thrill through him, making his breath catch. He would lean closer, her eyes would flutter shut, and…

THUD – THUD – THUD –

He swears loudly as he gets up. With one last lingering look at Rose, he walks out of the infirmary and into the console room.

There the shouting becomes more distinct, and he recognizes Czif’s voice calling his name. He stops next to the console, wavering. As much as he wishes he was done with the Drazfins, and away from their planet, Czif was with Rose when he found them, and he _is_ curious to know what has happened to them since he was separated from them. Sighing, he steps towards the doors and opens them.

“What…”

He trails off as he takes in the scene before him. A Drazfin he doesn’t know is holding Ariz in his arms, pale and unconscious, Czif standing next to them with a look of panic on her face.

“Doctor, please, you have to help us! It’s Ariz, he’s… he’s dying!”


	11. Chapter 11

_“What…”_

_He trails off as he takes in the scene before him. A Drazfin he doesn’t know is holding Ariz in his arms, pale and unconscious, Czif standing next to them with a look of panic on her face._

_“Doctor, please, you have to help us! It’s Ariz, he’s… he’s dying!”_

He stares at them blankly for a heartbeat before his mind catches up with the situation.

“What happened to him?” he asks, fishing out his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and hurriedly changing the settings before running it over the body of the unconscious Drazfin.

“I don’t know,” Czif answers, twisting her hands anxiously. “He just… collapsed. We couldn’t revive him, and they don’t –they don’t really have proper medical facilities down there, so I thought… I thought if anyone could help…”

The Doctor was examining the results on his sonic but looks up sharply at this statement.

“Down there? What – No, never mind that now. Follow me inside, quickly!”

He rushes Czif and the unknown Drazfin into the console room and towards the infirmary. They obey him without hesitation, their distress too high to even notice the TARDIS’s unexpectedly large interior. He rolls an examination bed next to Rose’s and motions to Czif’s companion to set his burden down upon it while he quickly sets up the equipment for a full body scan.

“Alright, explain,” he demands, turning back towards her. “Start with who these people were outside, and where they came from. No, better yet, start with who _this_ is.”

He points towards the unknown Drazfin, who has backed up against the wall and is staring at Ariz, looking stunned.

“This is Azan. He’s Ariz’s brother. Rose and I tracked him down, he’s part of a group that has set up camp in an abandoned underground base. They –”

She is interrupted by the loud beep of the scanner. The Doctor turns towards the monitor, and as he looks over the results a grim expression appears on his face.

“What? What is it? What’s wrong with him?” she cries, alarmed.

“Czif, do you have any of those inhibitor pills left? The ones you use to slow down the disease?”

“The - wha – yes, I brought some with me when I defected. They’re in my bag. I – Oh! I left it back there. Why do you need them? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Can you bring them to me? Quickly?”

“Um, sure, let me just – ”

“I’ll go,” Azan interrupts. “I can get there and back faster than you.”

“Ok, thanks. I think I left it with Kirif.”

With a nod, the Drazfins rushes out of the room. Czif turns back towards the Doctor to see him rummaging in one of the shelves in a corner of the infirmary, selecting a few of the vials there.

“Doctor, why do you need inhibitor pills? Whatever’s wrong with Ariz, it’s certainly not related to… I mean, he was barely even sick!”

He does not answer immediately, carefully measuring the liquids he has chosen. He sonics the mix for a few seconds before transferring it to a syringe, finally answering her as he approaches the bed once more.

“I’m afraid that’s what it is. As far as I can tell, the disease has progressed extremely quickly in his body in the last day or so. I _had_ noticed that he was starting to look more… drained than before, but with everything that was happening… I didn’t give it any further thought. I’m sorry.”

Shaking his head in regret, he prods Ariz’s arm for a vein. Czif mechanically moves to help him locate it, and watches him inject the liquid.

“But it can’t be… he was doing so well. This is part of why he was chosen for the mission, the disease had affected him so little…”

“Unfortunately, I think that started to change on Earth. You had to start rationing the pills, and then he stopped taking them altogether, when he was left behind. The fact that he was stunned probably didn’t help, either. That type of stunner momentarily shuts down all body functions, and during that time Ariz’s system was helpless to combat the disease’s progression. It probably hasn’t been able to do so ever since. The disease has now advanced beyond the stage where his body could keep from shutting down.”

Tears running freely down her cheeks, Czif looks down at the unconscious Drazfin, gently stroking his cheek before resting her hand over his heart.

“Will he – how long does he have? Do we have time to – “

“ _Yes_. We can save him, Czif, I promise. Don’t forget we both worked on a cure for this.”

“But it was never tested on live subjects!” she exclaims frantically. “Only on cell cultures, in test tubes! We can’t be sure it works! And even if it does, we have to make more, what I managed to take with me when I left won’t be enough! We can’t –”

The Doctor lays a comforting hand on both her shoulders and she stops talking, her shoulders heaving.

“Czif, it’s alright. We’ll save him. He’s in danger, true, but it’s nothing we can’t handle. I just gave him a sedative that will help his body recuperate enough to start fighting again, and once I have the inhibitor, I can use it to stabilize his condition. Alright?”

Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath and nods. She wipes away her tears with the back of her hand before opening her eyes again, her gaze resolute.

“Alright. What can I do to help?”

“Well, we’ll need to test the cure before it can be administered. You’re more familiar with your species’ physiology, so your knowledge will be invaluable. But first, we need to concentrate on the inhibitor: replicate it to a greater volume, possibly turn it into a serum for better assimilation into the body. We’ll get started as soon as we have it.”

“Do you have any ideas on the best way to do it?”

The Doctor is explaining to his companion the potential that the advanced equipment on the TARDIS possesses to help them when the ship alerts him to Azan’s return. He rushes to the console room, eager to get his hands on the inhibitor, but what he sees makes him freeze in his tracks.

Azan is standing next to the open doors, his expression apologetic. And next to him, Czif’s bag held up like a peace offering is another Drazfin, which he immediately recognizes as the one who was holding a gun up to Rose’s head, mere hours before.

“What is this?” the Doctor asks through gritted teeth. “What are _you_ doing here?”

“Doctor, this is Kirif, the refugee leader,” explains Czif, having followed him out of the room. “He didn’t mean to –”

“Thank you, Czif, but he has every right to be furious,” interrupts Kirif, raising his hand to stop her. “I threatened his friend, I’m invading his ship. I’m sorry, Doctor. I didn’t know who you were, I didn’t know who your friends were, and we’ve all been a bit on edge these past few months. Czif and Ariz explained what a great help you’ve been to them, before he…” The Drazfin’s eyes flit to Czif, who grabs her bag from him, jaw clenched, and starts rummaging through it. Clearing his throat, he adds, “Doctor, there is much we need to discuss.”

“I’m afraid I’m rather busy at the moment,” he answers coldly. Turning to Czif, he adds, “Do you have the inhibitor?”

“Yes, I got it,” she replies as she straightens up, holding two small bottles in her hands. “That, _and_ the cure sample.”

“Good. Come on, we have work to do.”

He is turning back towards the console room when a hand on his arm stops him.

“Wait! _That_ is what we must talk about. We need to work together, you and I. You have one person affected by the disease in your infirmary. I have a _hundred_ in my hospital wing, and their condition is worsening every day. You _have_ to help us, Doctor.”

“A hundred? I don’t understand… Who are all these people? What are you all doing in the middle of this wasteland?”

“We’re all refugees, people that have fled their faction, their homes, to escape the war. There were only a few of us at the beginning, but soon word spread amongst those seeking refuge. A family or two would join us every day, and our numbers quickly grew. We didn’t have a lot of supplies, but we managed just fine for a while. Then the disease reached us.”

He pauses, hands tightening into fists at the painful memory.

“I’m sure you’ve heard that by the time it was detected, the disease had already infected almost everyone. The greatest minds of this world could find no cure, only ways to slow it down. Well, we didn’t even have that much. We had no scientists here, no advanced medical equipment or personnel, only a few nurses who quickly became overwhelmed. People have been dying under my eyes for weeks, Doctor. I will do _anything_ to help you put a stop to this.”

As the Doctor listens to the man’s story, all of his anger and mistrust towards him melts away. He will not let innocents suffer, just because of what their soldiers did in a moment of panic and fear.

“Fine. Czif and I have a lot to do, but I’m sure we can come to an agreement while we work.”

He will help them, any way he can. He simply hopes this man is more trustworthy than the last Drazfin leader he has encountered.

* * *

“Doctor, they’re ready to leave.”

He tears his eyes away from his monitors to see Czif enter the infirmary, and he nods with a sigh.

“Yes, fine. Let me just take some of those results with me.” He searches the pockets of his coat for a second before retrieving a small data pad which he connects to his monitor. He’s been studying the results from Rose’s scans every spare moment he could get, but there’s been so much to do that those have been few and far between. The data transfer finishes with a small ding and he pockets the pad, rising from his chair with reluctance. He takes a step towards the door but wavers as he looks back at the two unconscious forms lying on hospital beds on each side of him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll look after them,” Czif offers reassuringly.

“I know you will,” he answers with a sigh. “And there’s no need to worry, not really. Ariz is no longer in immediate danger, and Rose is fine, she’s just… sleeping. They don’t really need me here.”

“Still, you don’t want to leave their side,” she replies, taking a few steps towards Ariz’s bed. “I can certainly understand.”

The Doctor watches her look at Ariz, her eyes so full of the love she has stopped trying to hide, and he shakes his head, gazing back towards Rose. He understands the real meaning behind Czif’s words. She’s been at the young Drazfin’s side as often as she can, only forcing herself to leave because she knows her work will help him. And she thinks the same holds true for him, she thinks he doesn’t want to leave Rose because he, too, is…

He exhales shakily, looking at Rose one last time before turning away. With a small nod to Czif, he walks out of the infirmary and into the console room, pausing to lightly pat the central column before exiting the ship.

Czif’s two aides are still working in the laboratory, bent over a scanner monitoring the vital signs of their first live volunteer.

“Rizi, Mavran, how is our patient?”

“Doing well for now, but it might be too early to tell.” Mavran pauses, sharing a hesitant look with Rizi. “Doctor, do you really have to go? What if something goes wrong while you’re away?”

“Your leader seems to think it necessary that I be there, and even though I hate to agree with him, I have to admit he’s right,” he retorts with a small smile. “And if anything _does_ happen, you still have Czif. Her knowledge of the cure is as good as mine, and she knows your species far better than I.”

As Mavran and Rizi still appear unconvinced, he adds, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back quickly. It should only take us about half a day.”

He waves them goodbye before walking away.

He steps into the deserted hallway, making his way towards the hangar bay where Kirif and his team are surely waiting for him. His path takes him next to the hospital ward, and he peeks inside as he passes by. A few heads turn towards him as they detect the movement at the door, and he is immediately assailed with questions.

“Doctor, is there any news?”

“Have you finished testing the cure?”

He pauses in the threshold of the room, trying his best to smile reassuringly at the Drazfins looking anxiously towards him.

“I’m sorry, we still have some tests to run. It’s too soon to tell, but it’s promising so far.”

They resume their activities, nodding sadly, and the Doctor frowns as he surveys the room, overflowing with people. It had never been meant to house such a large number of patients, and in consequence the partitions between beds had to be taken down to squeeze in new ones. The nurses and family members orbiting around, most of them drained and sick as well, complete the picture to give the place a cramped, gloomy aura.

He had proposed moving the sick to the TARDIS, where large rooms full of helpful medical equipment could easily be found, but the logistics of moving so many patients, with so many of them unconscious or too ailing to move, has proved too difficult. He has instead given them as much equipment and medication as he could, and divided his time between the laboratory, where they are testing the cure and mass producing the inhibitor drug, and the hospital ward, where he helps as best as he can.

And the infirmary wing, whenever he can find the time.

The infirmary wing… and Rose.

Shaking his head, he walks past the hospital ward and hurries his pace towards the hangar bay. He’s not exactly pleased to be going on this mission, but Kirif is right, a neutral party should help diffuse the tensions that will surely exist between the leaders that have agreed to the meeting. And given that he was the one insisting on contacting the other factions… it is only natural that he accompanies them.

Czif explained everything that has happened since they parted. She told him how Rose convinced her to help her, not only by arguing that she was her best chance of seeing Ariz again, but also by repeating her promise to help cure the whole Drazfin population, and even try to restore peace to her world.

He intends to make truth of those words, starting by overcoming the mistrust that has built between the three factions after years of conflict. Offering them a cure for this epidemic should be a good starting point for an alliance.

He is restoring peace and saving the lives of an entire world in one grand diplomatic move.

Rose will be pleased when she wakes up.

He sighs, his thoughts inescapably returning to the woman.

He knows he has to go with Kirif and his men but he hates the idea of leaving her, even if only for a few hours, even though she is still sleeping.

He’s not sure how long this healing coma will last. The little amount of time he’s been able to devote to Rose and her situation has been a constant source of frustration over the last few days. This is actually one of the only good things about this mission: he will have ample time to study her scan results on the long way there and back. Surely it will give him enough time for him to get to the bottom of this.

Because what he’s been able to learn so far… absolutely terrifies him.

Not because she’s injured, or because her state is degrading. Far from it. According to the scans, she could not be in better health. Which is incredible considering the untempered energy merged with every single cell of her body.

No, what scares him is that the energy seems to have become essential to her. Her body appears to be using it to function, as though it was as crucial to it as air or food, and as it is spending it, the amount of energy present inside her drops. The decrease has been infinitesimal, so far, but it has happened nonetheless.

What happens when the energy is completely spent? Her body is so dependent of it already, he’s afraid she could not survive without it.

This is not pure speculation from him, either. He’s fairly certain that what she did, manipulating time to reach time and get him away from the blast, was done using the energy inside her, in an impulsive, instinctive way. An act of this magnitude probably emptied her energy reserves, and as a result her body was slowly shutting down, until he took her inside the TARDIS. And then she… _refuelled_ , in a manner of speaking.

It is probable that the same thing could be done, the next time the amount of energy inside her drops too much. As long as he can get her inside the TARDIS quickly enough when it happens, this is not a problem, but… What if he can’t? What if she’s not close to the TARDIS at all, or to him for that matter?

At some point in her life she will want to leave him, like every companion rightly does, but with this energy now necessary for her survival, would she be able to live on her own, without the TARDIS?

It certainly doesn’t look that way.

In a moment of extraordinary lack of foresight, of foolish inattention, his future self did not verify that the bloody _time vortex_ had completely left his companion’s body, and now…

He may have condemned her to a life aboard the TARDIS, whether she likes it or not.

* * *

Rose emerges from sleep with the familiar hum of the TARDIS singing in her ears, and she smiles.

She’s home.

She takes a moment to let that sink in, content to simply enjoy the warmth spreading through her at the thought.

_Home_.

Years ago, when she rushed head first after the alien man in the leather jacket, she had not expected his strange ship to become so comfortable, to come to be her refuge, but it did. She’d never felt truly at home since that dreadful day she was swallowed by a white wall. For years she has gone to bed missing the reassuring, steady thrum of the TARDIS, waking up to a bedroom too silent, to a house too ordinary.

No more.

The TARDIS hums affectionately in her head, a warm, joyous feeling that resonates inside her, and Rose realizes how strongly she can sense her. Over the course of her adventures with the Doctor, she had come to cherish this peculiar ship, with her moods and her sense of humour. The TARDIS, in return, seemed to favor this particular companion of her Time Lord, granting and even anticipating her wishes, sometimes to the astonishment of the Doctor. Theirs had always been an unspoken bond, however: although Rose was able to sense the presence of the ship all around her, it had always been a vague, imprecise feeling.

Now, though…

Now the TARDIS is humming in her head, and she can understand her meaning as clearly as if she had spoken it aloud. Every nuance of sound combines into a glorious welcome, and Rose knows the ship is as happy to have her there as Rose is to be back.

Her smile widening, she stretches her arms above her head and opens her eyes.

The ship’s infirmary greets her gaze, instantly recognizable by that stretch of white ceiling above her – she has spent enough time there in the past. Her brain still fuzzy from sleep, she frowns as she tries to remember how she ended up here.

She remembers being surrounded by armed Drazfins, every gun pointed at her as they realized she was alien. She remembers her shock as she heard the unmistakable whirring of the TARDIS and as she watched the Doctor striding out, yelling at the Drazfin leader. And then –

Then her memories become blurry, and she can’t quite tell if what she remembers is real, or the result of a chaotic dream. She seems to recall a wave of terror washing over her along with the absolute certainty that he was about to be shot, and herself rebelling against it, her resolve to save him resonating to the very core of her being. She started to rush towards him – but that must be a dream, because the world had slowed down around her, everyone unmoving as they watched the Doctor, frozen mid-step himself with an incredulous expression on his face. She reached him and pushed him down, her hands on his chest inexplicably glowing with light.

She has a vague remembrance of his arms around her, and then complete darkness –no, wait, this same light was there again, wasn’t it? Overflowing, igniting inside her?

She frowns, the memory slipping through her fingers. One thing is certain, she lost consciousness, _again_ , and the Doctor must have brought her to the TARDIS infirmary.

She exhales, tension she didn’t know she carried leaving her body. She had tried to deny it, to stamp down on her fears, but in truth she had been terrified of having lost the Doctor again. She had tried to be confident that he would come for her, but she could never fully convince herself of it.

But he _did_. He found her, he came for her, and suddenly her desire to see him is almost overwhelming. In fact, she is surprised that he hasn’t realized she is awake, yet. The other two versions of him she knew would have been fussing over her the moment she opened her eyes.

She sits up, scanning the room for any sign of the Doctor. The infirmary is quiet and still, and at first she thinks no one else is there, but then her gaze focuses on a second infirmary bed, on the other side of a row of monitors.

Uttering his name in surprise, she rushes off the bed and over to him. He is lying on the bed, pale and unmoving, a bag of solution dripping into his veins. He looks nothing like the young, animated guard she chatted with only a few days ago on Earth. What could have happened to him since then to make him this way? Or… has she been unconscious for longer than she thought?

“Doctor?” she calls, scanning the room for clues.

There are a few bottles on the counter, some equipment scattered here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary: the infirmary has always been somewhat of an ordered mess. An empty chair next to Ariz’s bed seems to indicate that someone has been watching over him, but why is no one here _now_?

“Doctor!”

There is no answer once again. Even as she tells herself that he is more than likely simply out of hearing range, absorbed in some problem or other as he tends to do, part of her is starting to worry. Something doesn’t feel quite right.

With one last look at Ariz, she walks out of the infirmary, mindful of any suspicious noise or sudden movement. The console room is right next to her as she exits into the corridor, and she carefully peeks inside.

She pauses, intrigued.

The outside doors of the TARDIS are wide open, large cables coming from somewhere beneath the console passing through them. As she is looking, someone passes in front of the doorway– a Drazfin she doesn’t know – and Rose, startled, presses herself against the corridor wall, out of view of the open doors.

Who is that? A friend? Is the Doctor with them? Or is it an enemy, who has captured the Doctor and stolen his ship?

Did they see her?

She waits a few moments in breathless silence and curses quietly when she hears an indistinct voice calling and footsteps approaching. What should she do? Should she hide somewhere inside the ship until she can figure out what is happening? Should she try to fight? Should she confront whoever is approaching, here and now?

As she is considering her next action the TARDIS sends her a reassuring hum, letting her know she has nothing to fear from whoever is approaching, and after a moment of hesitation Rose calms down. She trusts this ship with her life; she will trust her for this, too.

She steps away from the wall and into the console room.

“Rose!”

She only has time to see a blue blur rush towards her before she is tightly engulfed in a hug.

“Rose, you’re finally awake, I’m so glad! How do you feel?”

“Czif?”

Relief floods through her as she recognizes Czif’ voice. Gently disentangling herself from the embrace, she stares, perplexed, at the young Drazfin who is smiling at her excitedly.

“Yeah, I feel fine, I – Czif, what’s going on? Where are we?

“Oh, that’s right, you don’t know! So much has happened since you… But are you really alright? Should you be up already?”

“Why shouldn’t I…” Rose trails off, a frown on her face. “Czif, what happened to me?”

“I’m not too sure, actually. We were surrounded by Kirif and his men, and then the Doctor appeared on the TARDIS – except of course we didn’t know what it was back then. Things got pretty tense, I was scared people were going to start shooting any second, and then you just suddenly… appeared next to the Doctor. You pushed him out of the way of an energy pulse, and then… you lost consciousness.”

“I… did what?”

“It was really strange… One moment you were standing next to me, and the next you were pushing the Doctor down. I can’t explain. I tried to ask the Doctor, but he always seemed so… distressed… whenever I brought you up.”

Her strange dream of moving through slowed time comes back to her – or what she had thought was a dream at the time. But how was this possible?

“How long was I unconscious?”

“About three days, I think,” she answers. At Rose’s gasp of surprise, she adds, “You were in some sort of… coma. The Doctor said you were fine, that you’d wake up on your own eventually, but I could tell he was worried. And frustrated that he couldn’t spend more time with you. I felt bad about it, but we’ve been so busy…”

“Busy… Busy with what?”

“Oh, Rose, there is so much to tell you!” she exclaims, tugging on her arm to drag her towards the doors of the TARDIS. She pauses after a few steps.

“Oh, I forgot, I was coming to check on Ariz… Just wait a minute, alright?”

At Rose’s nod she dashes towards the infirmary, leaving her alone in the console room. She leans on a pillar and lets her head fall against it, eyes closed, as she tries to make sense of what Czif just told her.

Ever since she met this version of the Doctor, everything has been one confusing whirlwind after another. Of course, this is how adventures with the Doctor usually are, but she’s not used to _being_ the mystery to solve.

The TARDIS hums in comfort, and Rose opens her eyes with a small smile, looking affectionately at the central column. Whatever else has happened to her, she is certainly grateful for this new connection to the TARDIS.

With a small sigh and a resolute nod, she pushes her confusion away. She’ll get answers soon enough. More likely than not the Doctor has already scanned her to his hearts’ content and figured out the mystery.

Now if she could only know where he is…

“He’s doing fine,” Czif calls out happily as she comes back into the room. “It’s thanks to the Doctor, you know, he stabilized him. Our first live trial on a volunteer is going really well so far, too, and when we’re sure it works, we’ll be able to cure everyone!”

At Rose’s uncomprehending look, Czif lets out a small laugh, and takes her by the arm once more.

“I’m sorry, I’m not really helping you understand anything right now, am I? Come with me, I’ll tell you everything that’s happened.”

* * *

She listens to the young boy prattle on about her aunt the soldier gone on this super important diplomatic mission as she replaces his IV bag for a new one, and his mother standing next to him smiles in gratitude.

“Thank you, Rose. This medication has really made a huge difference. We owe you and the Doctor a good deal. And I’m sorry about this one’s babbling.”

“I don’t mind,” she answers with a grin. “And I hope I can have the honor to meet your aunt when she comes back,” she tells the boy, who beams happily.

She’s on her way to her next patient – there seems to be a never-ending supply of it – when the mother catches up to her, and takes her aside.

“Do you know if there’s been any word yet? The aunt, it’s my sister, I- if anything happened to her on this expedition…”

“No, I… I haven’t heard anything new. But I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”

The woman nods with a faint smile, and goes back to her son’s bed. Rose watches her walk away, her heart squeezing painfully in her chest. She tries to hide it as well as she can because she has to, her job is to be a comfort to these people, but… in truth she is absolutely terrified.

It’s been over a day since she woke up, and several hours since the group that left on a diplomatic mission, the Doctor amongst them, was expected back. With each passing hour it becomes harder to keep herself from breaking down, because he isn’t back yet, and she _needs_ him to be back.

Czif had explained everything that had happened while giving her a tour of their new home. She explained how Ariz had suddenly grown much worse, how the Doctor had agreed to help them finish the cure, how he had even given them medical supplies and equipment. How he had insisted that they reach out to the other factions. He had left with a team for exactly this purpose, a few hours before, and that he should be back within a few hours more.

Rose had pushed down her disappointment that the Doctor was gone, glad that he was fulfilling the promise that _she_ had made in their name. She told herself this, and tried to be reasonable about it, but… Her need to see him again was starting to feel overpowering. Because they had so much to talk about, of course, but also… she just really wanted to _touch_ him again, to be reassured by this tangible proof of his existence. To hear the sound of his hearts beating under her ear, like the time he hugged her, in the Drazfin cage – and oh, she really shouldn’t be thinking about that time, because he had also kissed her temple, and since then the thought of what his lips against hers would feel like had never been very far from her thoughts –

She really had to find something to do to keep herself from going crazy.

“Can I do anything to help?”

Czif showed her the hospital ward then, overflowing with sickness and suffering, and she felt tears spring to her eyes.

Never mind herself. Her own problems were inconsequential in the face of all that suffering. She would help these poor people, any way she could.

She started lending a hand as a nurse, distributing sedatives, pain suppressors, and doses of the inhibitor the Doctor had concocted. Her heart twisted painfully at what the people of this planet were going through, patients feverish and shaky, almost too far gone for the medication to help them.

Even then, they told her things had improved, since Czif and the Doctor had started mass production of the inhibitor.

She doesn’t want to imagine how it was before.

She is grateful to the Doctor for all the help he had brought them. She knows how harsh he can get when he is angry, and it is a fair assumption that every incarnation shares this particular trait.

The Oncoming Storm.

He couldn’t have been too happy with the Drazfin race, not after they had kidnapped her, shot him, held her at gunpoint, and tried to shoot him again. He overcame his anger, however, in the light of their suffering, and she is proud of him for that.

Shaking her head, she makes her way to the next bed, where another ailing Drazfin needs her.

Now, if only the Doctor could come back to her.

* * *

“They’re back! They’ve made contact, they’re almost here!”

The words shouted from the doorway of the hospital ward soon are on every lips, repeated by a hundred voices.

Rose, frozen to the spot for a moment, her heart lodged somewhere in her throat, lets herself be swept away by the flow of people rushing towards the hangar bay.

They’re back. _They’re back._ Over a day after their expected return, almost everyone has been imagining the worst, although no one has breathed a word of it. It seems almost impossible that she’ll finally get to see the Doctor again, without anyone standing between, with neither of them captive or threatened.

They amass in the back of the hangar bay, watching anxiously the gateways in the ceiling, waiting for them to finally open and let the ship through. The crowd increases in size with every passing moment, until it seems likely that every Drazfin able to move has come to witness the team’s return.

Rose, stuck somewhere in the back of the room, is trying to make her way to the front of the crowd when a presence brushing her mind makes her freeze in her tracks.

_Oh_.

The sensation only last for a moment, but she recognizes the feeling immediately. Her heart pounding, she opens up her mind, trying to reach for that presence herself. She is working on instinct, fumbling as she searches, but after a few seconds she finally finds what she is looking for.

She touches the Doctor’s mind gently, a greeting and a request for more. She takes a shaky breath as she waits for an answer, a reaction on his part, and after a few seconds which seem to her like an eternity she feels him reach for her again, hesitant at first but gaining in assurance as their minds entangle further.

At this distance they can’t communicate, but his presence in her mind is enough for her, so undeniably the Doctor that it is as though he was with her already. Eyes closed, she simply basks in the feeling as she curls herself further into him.

She is so focused on the sensation that she misses the arrival of the ship, only realizing it has landed with the sudden intensity of their link. She opens her eyes but the tall Drazfins around her block her view, only allowing her glimpses of the team as they emerge from the ship one by one.

She watches with barely suppressed impatience as exhausted-looking men and women make their way out of the craft’s doors, some onlookers invariably detaching from the crowd to throw themselves into their arms.

“Come on, come on,” she whispers through gritted teeth.

He finally comes out of the ship, looking drained and grimy, but her heart skips a beat at the sight nonetheless. His eyes scan the crowd, obviously looking for her, but the mass of people seems to close in around her as though determined to foil their reunion, and no matter how she shoves and pushes she can’t get any closer.

“ _Rose_ ,” he breathes out in her mind.

She lets out a strangled cry, desperate to reach him. An opening suddenly seems to miraculously form in front of her and, rushing forward, she runs the few meters separating them and throws herself into his arms.


	12. Chapter 12

_“Rose,” he breathes out in her mind._

_She lets out a strangled cry, desperate to reach him. An opening suddenly seems to miraculously form in front of her and, rushing forward, she runs the few meters separating them and throws herself into his arms._

She presses herself against him, reaches around to grasp the back of his coat. The pounding of her heart drones out the sound of the crowd around her as everyone fades away and every worry she’s had in the last day evaporates. She’s lost to everything that isn’t him.

His arms wrap around her waist, one hand splaying across her back. Every point of contact between them seems electric, his touch feeling like it is searing her through her clothes. She buries her face in his neck and inhales, his scent making her heady. Her lips are so close to his skin she can almost taste him.

With the physical contact their link increases tenfold, the intensity of their connection nearly overwhelming her. His thoughts and emotions are pouring unshielded into her mind, too numerous, too chaotic for her to follow. She’s sure he must be sensing everything her every feeling, too, and she’s afraid they must not be too difficult to understand: her love for him is resonating from every fiber of her being, filling her mind completely. A small part of her tells her she should tone it down, in case it scares him away, but she can’t find it in herself to care. She couldn’t possibly repress her feelings for him right now.

She doesn’t think she even wants to anymore.

She hears him take a deep breath, then a shaky exhale. One of his hands snakes up and cups the back of her head, tangling in her hair. She raises her head in response to a gentle pressure of his fingers, finally meeting his gaze.

Her breath hitches.

His eyes are boring into hers, intense, piercing. She feels herself heat up under his gaze, her heart pounding so hard she is sure he can hear it. She moistens her lips and his eyes flit to them, his grips tightening almost convulsively.

He’s going to kiss her.

Her heart skips a beat at the thought before accelerating even further. She holds his gaze, lips parting as time seems come to a standstill. She watches with trepidation as his eyes darken and he leans closer, so close she can feel his breath caressing her skin.

He pauses, just short of her lips, and she waits with a shaky breath until she can’t any longer. She just needs to gather her courage and then she’ll finally breach that space between them, she’ll –

He tenses, a sliver of something like unease and hesitation entering his eyes and stopping her. His grip clenches before loosening, his arms dropping as he begins to pull away. Still dazed from what has almost happened, Rose doesn’t resist as he takes a step back, the movement causing her hand at his back to rest on top of one of his hearts.

His heartbeat is frenetic underneath her fingers.

“ _Doctor, what –_ ” she breathes out, confused, through their link.

She feels his mind stutter before abruptly retreating behind a shield he has hastily pulled up, their connection regressing to a superficial contact.

Rose looks up at him with wide eyes, stunned by the sudden withdrawal. She would think of it as a rejection, except his hearts are thumping faster than ever, and underneath the doubt and alarm in his eyes she thinks she can see something like longing as he stares at her.

“Doctor?” she whispers.

She takes a small, hesitant step forward, bringing them almost as close as they were before. He watches her approach as though spellbound, making no attempt to move away. She brings her other hand to rest on his second heart, and she feels a thrill run through her as his eyes darken again, the hesitation within them slowly melting away. She takes a shaky breath, about to close the distance between them for a second time.

“Doctor!”

They both start as the world around them comes crashing back in, the noise suddenly deafening around them as they become aware of the crowd surrounding them.She takes a hasty step back as they both turn towards the source of the call. A Drazfin she doesn’t know is rushing towards them, looking as grimy and exhausted as the rest of the crew coming back from the mission, his features lit with a spark of enthusiasm despite it. Czif is following behind him, an apologetic smile on her face as her eyes shift between Rose and the Doctor. Rose looks down, fighting the blush she can feel forming on her cheeks.

“Doctor!” the Drazfin calls again as he comes to a stop next to them. “I was just talking with Czif, we need to meet to discuss her team’s progress. We really have to get started as soon as possible, there’s a lot to be done before the next meeting. I will also need your help planning the – ”

“Kirif,” Czif interrupts with a hand on his shoulder. “Let him breathe a bit. You two just came back, I’m sure there are a few things he’d like to take care of, first. Rose, for example. She’s finally awake, they probably have a lot to catch up on.”

Kirif turns towards Rose in surprise, so focused on the Doctor that he hadn’t noticed her presence a few steps away. Now that she can see his face clearly Rose’s eyes widen in recognition. This is the Drazfin that had held her at gunpoint, before she lost consciousness.

She can’t help taking an involuntary step back.

“Oh, yes, there you are! You’re awake! I’m sorry, I hadn’t noticed that you two were…” He clears his throat uncomfortably before straightening up and extending a hand to shake. “I’m Kirif. Nice to finally meet you. Although we’ve seen each other before, as I’m sure you remember… I apologize for that, but I’m sure you can understand our wariness, given the situation… Anyway, I’m glad to see you’re well. I’m sure that’s a relief for you, too,” he adds turning back towards the Doctor.

“Yes, it is,” he answers. His voice sounds so calm and collected, so soon after that intense moment between them, that Rose can’t stop herself from peering towards him in a furtive way. His face is a mask, too perfectly neutral, an expression she has often seen on her first Doctor whenever he did not wish to share his thoughts. She knew, even back then, that it didn’t mean he wasn’t feeling anything, but rather that he was feeling too much.

Kirif is still talking, and she tries to refocus her attention on him.

“… sure you two have a lot to talk about, but I really need you to focus on this right now. I know it’s a lot to ask, but it’s crucial that –”

“It’s fine, Kirif. I’ll come with you.”

"Are you sure, Doctor?" asks Czif, her eyes flitting towards Rose. "We could give you a few minutes, if you want..."

"No, no, Kirif is right, we have a lot of work to do. I'm sure Rose will understand."

He turns towards her and she nods mutely, trying her best to hide her confusion, her disappointment. None of what has just happened was how she thought their reunion would play out.

The Doctor looks between the two Drazfins and Rose, hesitating for a moment before reaching over to squeeze her hand in parting. As his fingers make contact with her skin, their link ignites once more. His shields are still up, the contact infinitely less intimate than before, but she senses his mind reaching for hers nonetheless, trying to reassure her. He must have sensed how troubled she was becoming by the turn of events.

" _We'll talk later, Rose. I promise_."

Startled by the sudden, unexpected contact, she can do nothing but nod in response. She is expecting him to leave right away but he lingers, his eyes holding hers, intense but inscrutable. His hand reaches up to cup her cheek, his thumb stroking her skin lightly, making her breath hitch. She watches as he leans almost imperceptibly closer, a flash of something like longing passing through his eyes.

“ _Later_ ,” he repeats, tearing his hand away. He steps back and turns to Czif and Kirif, who had discreetly moved some distance away.

“Come on,” he says, motioning to them to follow him as he walks towards the entrance of the hangar bay.

Rooted to the spot, Rose watches him disappear through the open doors, her heart beating wildly and her skin still tingling where he touched her.

Well, what is she supposed to do now? She has been so solely focused on the Doctor’s return that she hadn’t really thought any further than this. Apparently they are staying to help the Drazfins, which she is happy about, really she is. It’s what she wanted, after all. But she can’t help but wonder why she isn’t going into that meeting, discussing the diplomatic situation with Kirif. After all, she has Torchwood training, she is her team’s leader, she is used to dealing with such things. But…

Her presence is clearly not required. She even has the nagging feeling that it might be… unwanted. If the Doctor had desired her input, he would have asked her along. Her mind is brought back to the time, on Earth, when he argued with Dzarn that she could help with the cure, too, when it was made clear that she was supposed to stay in the cage.

Isn’t that true anymore?

She wonders what changed.

She shakes her head, steeling herself. No, she can still help. The work she’s been doing in the hospital ward is valuable, too. She’ll just keep doing that until the Doctor is ready to include her once more.

He promised they’d talk, after all.

\---------------

When she finally gets back to the hospital ward, she finds it much more animated than it was when she left, the usual gloominess of the place room taken over by the excitement of the team’s return. She is surrounded by cheerful scenes of reunion, families, couples and friends hugging and talking excitedly all around her, and she feels out of sync, an intruder in that joyful atmosphere.

She feels… unsettled. Despite the Doctor’s touch, his words before he left, she can’t quite understand his actions, the shield he suddenly put between their minds. There’s something wrong, something he’s not telling her.

A couple embraces next to her and she catches herself watching wistfully. It is very hard not to draw comparisons to her own reunion with the Doctor.

His presence has settled firmly into her mind, always at the edge of her consciousness but despairingly out of reach. Their link is broken, his defenses most definitely up, but she can still feel him, a constant reminder of his return. She dives back into caring for her patients, trying not to think about him, but her method of distraction is not wholly successful. Absolutely everyone around her is talking about the mission he has just returned from.

“So is it true, then? Trakhan and Zayin have agreed to a truce?”

“Yes, it’s incredible, isn’t it? Apparently, after their next meeting with Kirif a few representatives from each faction are supposed to come back here with Kirif.”

“Now if only the people from Kraln weren’t so thick-headed! You heard about the attack, I bet?”

“Yeah, I did! I don’t know all the details, though, just that it was lucky the Doctor was there… Rose! You’ve probably heard the whole story from him! Tell us what happened!”

“I… the Doctor was busy, he didn’t really have time to…” she stammers, embarrassed to admit that she knows absolutely _nothing_. She flushes as they look at her expectantly and quickly excuses herself to go see her next patient.

She dodges everyone trying to talk to her afterwards, but she does lend an ear to the loud, chaotic conversations happening all around her. By the end of the day she has more or less managed to piece the story together.

The team’s destination had been an open uninhabited stretch of land, far from any major faction cities. It was perfect as a neutral space for peaceful, diplomatic discussions, as they had promised in their encrypted broadcast to the three factions. Trakhan and Zayin had agreed to the meeting, but Kraln, the home faction of Ariz and Czif, had refused the invitation in no uncertain terms.

They arrived first and were quickly joined by both delegations, each arriving in a single ship as agreed upon. The first contact was tense, the representatives of both camps staring at each other in mistrust while Kirif welcomed them both. They finally exchanged a cold greeting and sat down for the discussions.

It rapidly became clear that both factions had been considerably weakened by the disease and were more than open to any solution which could save their faction from complete decimation. Although they were still guarded, and discussions were long and arduous, it seemed like there was hope that they could lead to some sort of peace.

But then… everything went to hell. The Doctor suddenly yelled that there were prowlers from Kraln approaching and ordered everyone to quickly retreat into their own ship. No one that Rose heard talk was very clear on how he had detected them – she suspected one of his home-made gadgets – but he had undeniably saved the day.

They had just taken cover into their respective ships when engines were heard and the first prowler was seen overhead. Kraln had been hoping to quash the possibility of a treaty by attacking the diplomats, hoping to catch them unarmed and unprepared. They had only time to fire a few blasts before the Trakhan, acting quickly, powered up their heavier ship and lifted off, retaliating immediately.

Kraln retreated under its blasts, but not before they were able to score a direct hit on the Zayin ship. Still on the ground, with its energy shield not fully powered on, they could not withstand the attack. Their engines exploded under the blast, the ship itself quickly turning into a flaming hulk of metal.

The Doctor, Kirif and his men came running out of their ship to help the members of the Zayin delegation emerging from the wreckage, scorched and coughing in pain. Amidst the chaos and confusion there was a cry that the chief ambassador was trapped inside and upon hearing this, the Doctor rushed inside the burning ship without a moment’s hesitation.

There was nothing but smoke and blazing heat for a few breathless moments as everyone watched the entrance of the ship. Surely it was too late by now, they had both been caught by the fire, no one could stil possibly make it out alive… and then the silhouette of the Doctor emerged, carrying the unconscious Drazfin in his arms under a roar of cheers.

This attack and the subsequent rescue cemented the alliance that had been slowly forming. Due to the circumstances, they couldn’t continue the discussions that had been so abruptly interrupted, but promises were made of a second meeting before long. After some rudimentary first aid the refugees undertook to bring the Zayin group home, Trakhan going its separate way.

The story chills Rose to the bone. She’s proud of the Doctor’s actions, of course she is, but… The image of him vanishing into a burning ship is certainly enough to fuel her nightmares for the nights to come. Could he even regenerate if he died in a fire? He’s told her before that if he died again during the regeneration process, it would be the end for him. This could have happened to him in that fire, if he’d been a tad slower, a bit less lucky, and the idea fills her with terror. She can’t lose him before she’s even met him.

\---------------

The day stretches out interminably, half her time spent looking over her shoulder in the hopes of the Doctor appearing in the doorway to fulfill his promise.

He doesn’t.

She decides to get some rest when they switch the lights to the night cycle – the only way to perceive the passing of time in this underground bunker. She’s not really tired, even though she hasn’t slept at all since she woke up in the infirmary close to two days ago. She should probably be worried, but with everything that’s been happening to her lately… a little sleeplessness isn’t really what troubles her the most.

Still, it might be better if she tried to sleep a bit. There’s sure to be a room on the TARDIS she can use. Maybe she could even find her old room, although she wonders if she could even recognize it, years before it becomes hers.

She ponders this as she makes her way towards the ship, trying very hard not to think about the other reason she is going back to the TARDIS, the reason she tries very hard to deny.

The Doctor might be there.

After all, Czif and her team have been using the TARDIS’ medical facilities quite a lot as they develop the cure, and their first Drazfin volunteer is literally being treated at the ship’s doorstep. The Doctor will probably be there, helping them. Surely he’ll have a few minutes to spare her when he sees her, for that long overdue talk…

As she approaches the door of the laboratory where the ship is parked, her heart starts thumping wildly. It’s ridiculous, she knows. She just wants to talk to him, that’s all, like they’ve done multiple times before. Yet, she can’t shake the feeling that something is different, that something has shifted between them – he almost _kissed_ her! – and she can’t shake her nervousness.

When she enters the room only Mavran is there, monitoring the test subject, and she tries very hard not to let disappointment flood her. He must be inside the ship, that’s all. She nods to the Drazfin in greeting before walking through the open TARDIS doors.

The console room is empty, too. The ship hums warmly in welcome, but otherwise everything is silent. She walks towards the infirmary, which is still the first room in the hallway beyond, and holds her breath as she peers through the doorway.

Her hopes plummet as she only sees Czif in the room, sitting at Ariz’s bedside and quietly watching over him. The scientist raises her head at the movement in the doorway, a warm smile gracing her face when she sees Rose.

“Hi, Rose. Eventful day, uh? I’m so glad they’re all back okay. And hey, all your promises might just come true: we’re pretty sure the cure is working, and peace doesn’t seem so far-fetched anymore with Trakhan and Zayin talking!”

“Yeah, I’m glad things are working out,” she replies with a small, uncertain smile. She opens her mouth to add something but hesitates, fiddling with the hem of her jacket. Czif finally seems to notice her somber mood and frowns.

“What’s the matter?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, I just… I was wondering if you’ve seen the Doctor recently.”

“Yes, he was here not too long ago. I think he left to see Kirif. Have you two found time to talk yet?”

Rose swallows down the lump of disappointment that has lodged itself in her throat and attempts to shrug casually.

“No, we haven’t, I – I was in the hospital ward all day, he was probably too busy to come by. Look, it’s not a big deal, but… I’m going to get some sleep in the TARDIS, would you let him know, if he comes back? And tell him that he can wake me, too, if he wants.”

“Sure, I will.”

She nods in thanks, turning to leave, but stops when Czif calls her name.

“I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you. I’ve seen how he was before you woke up, I’m sure he wants to talk to you just as much as you do,” she affirms in a heartfelt manner. “I’m actually surprised he’s been able to stay away from you for so long today.”

Instead of reassuring her, Czif’s comment only increases her sense of foreboding. Something happened, then, during the time he was away, she’s sure of it. Because if the Doctor had wanted to see her, he would have, regardless of how much Kirif insisted he needed his help _now_.

\---------------

She wakes up after a few hours of restless sleep, alone.

She meets no one, hears nothing other than the thrumming of the ship as she walks down the corridor towards the console room. To her astonishment, even the infirmary is empty when she peeks inside.

What happened to Ariz? Why was he moved?

No one is in the adjacent laboratory when she exits the ship – no Mavran, Rizi, or Czif – and not their test patient either, for that matter. Becoming more and more puzzled, she steps into the hallway beyond.

The corridors are almost empty, the few people she meets all hurrying in the same direction. Intrigued, she follows them all the way to the hospital ward, and as she approaches the doors she can hear constant murmurs buzzing underneath a single, booming voice.

She enters the room to find it more crowded than she has ever seen it. The whole base must be there, squeezing between the patients’ beds, everyone looking excitedly towards the middle of the room. She can see Kirif standing on a chair, crowning over everyone, and between the heads of the mass she catches a glimpse of the Doctor next to him, along with Czif.

“Now, I know this is exciting, and most of you will want to be treated as soon as possible,” Kirif is saying as she enters the room. “What you have to understand, though, is that production is still slow. We have to give priority to the sickest among us.”

There is a murmur of assent among the crowd. Rose, standing on tiptoes, tries to catch the eye of the Doctor, who is staring absently towards Kirif, a frown on his face. Does he know she’s here? She suddenly realizes that unlike the day before, she almost can’t feel his presence in her mind, the void left behind cold and uncomfortable.

“As I’m sure you’ve noticed, we’ve moved those that will be treated first in a separate, closely monitored room. As we produce more of the medicine, more people will be brought in. Let me be clear: we chose these people based on how advanced their state was. There is no favouritism in play. _I_ haven’t been treated yet, either. I am saying this here and now to avoid any nasty rumours or unnecessary commotion. Does anyone object to this selection process?”

Kirif scans the room with a piercing gaze and every Drazfin grows deadly silent. He nods after a few seconds, satisfied.

“Good. I will keep you updated when there are new developments. Nurses, I would ask that you talk to Czif. We must choose a dedicated team for the patients being treated. This is all for now.”

Kirif steps down from the chair, signaling an end to his announcement. The room explodes in a tumult as everyone tries to talk over the other excitedly and pushing each other to reach someone else in the room. Rose joins in and attempts to squeeze in the middle of the crowd to get to the Doctor but by the time she makes it to the center of the room, he is gone.

“Rose!” Czif calls out when she sees her. “There you are! Did you hear the great news? I was afraid you’d miss it, but the Doctor said to let you sleep…”

A cold hand grips Rose’s heart at her friend’s seemingly innocent words. The Doctor knew she was in the TARDIS, he knew that she asked for him, that she wanted to see him, and he chose not to. This lack of contact in the last twenty-four hours, it’s not because he’s busy.

He’s avoiding her.

“So, do you want to join the team tending to the patients receiving the cure? It’d be great to have you there with us! And I’m sure the Doctor would love to have you closer, too,” she adds, beaming.

_No, he wouldn’t_ , Rose thinks.

“No, that’s alright,” she answers instead. “I think I’ll just keep working here. These people also need someone to care for them until they can be cured, you know?”

Czif’s smile falters as she stares at her uncertainly. She seems about to ask something but she refrains with a small shake of the head.

“Sure. If that’s what you want.”

“It is. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work. I’ll see you later,” she replies before resolutely walking away.

She’s not going to follow the Doctor around like some lovesick puppy. When he’s ready to see her, he knows where to find her.

\---------------

Three days later, they still haven’t talked, and she’s had more than enough of this.

He’s being ridiculous. That’s all there is to it. She has run into Czif multiple times over the past few days, and each time the Doctor had just gone away somewhere, or was supposed to be back very soon, or was in a meeting with Kirif, but was invariably not there. Czif appears more and more puzzled each time, and Rose knows what the scientist is slowly realizing. This has happened too many times for it to be a coincidence. If she had any doubts that he was avoiding her, the last few days have certainly cleared everything up.

She wishes she could know what brought this on. They were getting along great before she was kidnapped and they were separated. And didn’t Czif tell her that the whole time she was unconscious in the TARDIS infirmary, the Doctor would come back to her side whenever he could? So what changed? What did she do to make him spurn her company?

She sighs, irritated. Everything would be much simpler if he would at least _talk_ to her. She’d thought this version of the Doctor was more open than his successors, but now he is reminding her more and more of her first Doctor. He was so closed off in the beginning of their travels together, always concealing his thoughts and feelings. He would sometimes hide away in the TARDIS for days, and she’d have to wait, helpless, for him to stop sulking. She’d learned over time to force her company on him during those moods of his, until she could draw him out, get him to talk.

Maybe she needs to do the same thing this time.

She makes her way purposefully towards the laboratory where Czif and her team have relocated their Drazfin patients. When she arrives she’s not at all surprised to see that the Doctor is not there.

“Hi, Czif. Do you know where the Doctor is?”

The scientist raises her head from her monitor as Rose enters the room, a perplexed look on her face.

“I’m not sure, actually. He left a while ago, saying he had to talk to Kirif, but then Kirif himself came here an hour later and said he never saw him…” She pauses, seeming to make up her mind about something. “Listen, Rose, I think something’s going on with him. He’s been distracted and irritable for days. It’s probably not my place to ask, but did something happen between the two of you?”

Rose lets out a frustrated sigh, her shoulders slumping.

“I don’t know. Nothing I can think of. I think he’s been avoiding me, ever since he came back from that mission. I have no idea why.”

“Well, this can’t go on like this. Whatever it is that’s making him act like this, you should confront him about it.”

“I’ve been trying to!” Rose cries out. “But he’s been pretty good at disappearing whenever I try to find him.”

“Maybe I could help you with that,” Czif states thoughtfully. “If I try to – and then I can change it to – Yes!”

Without any further explanation she leans over her monitor, furiously typing away while Rose looks on, stupefied.

“What are you doing?”

“Figuring out where he is,” she replies, never taking her eyes off her computer. “I created a life sign’s detection program a few days ago, to protect us from potential intruders – as sad as it is to say of my own faction, I don’t trust Kraln at all – but I could probably tweak it to show… Ah! There you go, look!”

Rose approaches the monitor, curious. She can see a map of the base on display, along with a single red dot flashing in the room in which they are standing. Puzzled, she glances back at Czif, who is wearing a satisfied look on her face.

“Um, what am I looking at exactly?”

“I’ve modified my program to track non-Drazfinian life signs. And since you and the Doctor are the only two aliens on the base…”

“But there’s only one dot on the map, and that’s me!” Rose exclaims, gesturing towards the display.

“Exactly.” At Rose’s blank look, she adds, “What’s the one place on the base he could be that wouldn’t register on my detector?”

Rose’s eyes grow wide.

“The TARDIS!”

“Exactly!” says Czif, smiling triumphantly. “Now, go to him, work this out. I’m rooting for you.”

“Thank you, Czif, really,” she says gratefully before sprinting off towards the ship.

\---------------

He’s not in the console room when she gets to the TARDIS, or in the infirmary, or in the library. She wastes a few minutes walking around the corridors, peeking inside every room she finds before she stops, huffing in frustration. This is pointless. She remembers the Doctor saying that this ship is so big that he had never found all the rooms. If he wants to hide inside it, there is no doubt that he can, no matter how long she searches.

No, she needs another way.

Searching for an idea, she lets her head rest against the wall and her eyes drift shut. Well, she’s not going to find him by sound, she thinks derisively. Everything in the ship is absolutely silent, apart for the low, constant humming of the TARDIS.

She opens her eyes with a start.

That’s it.

“You know where he is, don’t you?” she whispers, stroking the wall. “Would you help me find him?”

She pauses, waiting for the TARDIS’ response. She can feel her hesitation through the changing tone of her vibrations, and she understands her perfectly. To reveal the Doctor’s location would be to betray his trust. This is not an easy thing to ask of the loyal ship.

“Please, old girl. You know me, you know I only want what’s best for him. Whatever is bothering him, I don’t think hiding from me is the best way to go about it, don’t you think?”

The ship hums in reluctant agreement, and a light flashes at the end of the corridor, showing her the way. She follows the TARDIS’ indications through a maze of winding corridors and doorways before finding herself in front of a blank wooden door. It unlocks on its own, drifting halfway open. She sneaks through the opening, closing it quietly behind her.

The Doctor is inside, sitting in front of a monitor, so immersed in its display that he hasn’t noticed her coming in. She pauses, her back to the door, to observe him. She hasn’t seen him in days, and his appearance worries her. The light of the monitor emphasizes the dark circles underneath his eyes, his frown deepening the anxious lines on his face. He looks terrible, and she’s glad she finally decided to confront him.

She is about to speak when a soft glow next to him attracts her attention. On a table, connected to a multitude of machines, is a large containment tube, and inside it are golden particles, twirling as though carried by an imperceptible breeze. Fascinated, she can’t help moving towards it, something in her resonating with the luminescent cloud trapped inside the tube.

The noise of a chair hurriedly pushed back and crashing to the floor startles her out of her trance.

“Rose!”

She whirls towards him to see him on his feet, staring at her. There is shock in his eyes, and a bit of panic, but she could swear she sees a flash of something pass through his eyes, something that makes her breath catch.

She stakes a step towards him.

He backs away.

“What are you doing here? How did you… Oh, it’s you, isn’t it?” he asks, surprise morphing into irritation as he glares at the ceiling. “You lead her here, shielding her mind so I wouldn’t sense her approach? This is truly wonderful. I can’t even trust my own ship.”

The TARDIS hums ashamedly in response, and Rose feels a flare of anger rise inside her on her behalf. After the way he’s been acting, he doesn’t get to play the victim.

"Don't you blame her! If you have to be mad at someone, be mad at me. I'm the one who insisted she help me find you. I've had enough of you ignoring me and avoiding me without even knowing what I did to deserve it!"

The Doctor looks back towards her, clearly surprised by her outburst.

“What? I didn’t – I wasn’t avoiding you, I – “

“Oh don’t give me that, we both know it’s not true. It can’t possibly be a coincidence that we’ve been missing each other for the past three days,” she snaps, her hands on her hips.

He seems about to deny it again, but after a few moments he shakes his head, conceding the truth.

“Alright, I was, but it was only for a while, until I could figure out a way to undo –Rose, I’m close to a solution, so close! Why couldn’t you have waited just a bit? I didn’t want to tell you until I knew I could fix it, to avoid alarming you needlessly. I don’t think I could have hidden it from you, had we seen each other – look how well I’m doing now, after all!”

He starts pacing agitatedly as he talks, running a hand through messy curls.

“Tell me what, Doctor? What’s wrong? You’re not making any sense!”

She can see him hesitate, uncertain of how to answer, and she takes a few steps forward – to make him stand still, to reassure him, to shake some sense into him – she’s not exactly sure. She walks further into the room, passed the turned-over chair, towards his desk and the table with the strange, chaotic whirling particles, but as she approaches they seem to consolidate into a single, graceful stream which glows increasingly brighter, making her pause in surprise.

She knows this light. She’s seen it before. As a memory stirs inside her, just out of her grasp, she reaches for the glass of the tube, tracing the path of the swirling energy with her fingers, and this is when she notices.

Her hand is glowing, too.

“Wha –?” she whispers, raising her hands to her eyes. They are shining, the same golden light dancing on every visible inch of her skin.

Her entire body is glowing, and she stares, fascinated. She should be scared, probably, but instead she feels comforted, like she is being wrapped in the embrace of a long lost friend.

“ _That_ is what I am trying to undo,” the Doctor says softly.

She hadn’t noticed him approach, and she looks towards him with wonder. He is standing next to her, watching her with unsuppressed awe. He raises a tentative hand, brushing her cheek in the barest of touch. The touch is enough to reignite the link between them, and for a moment she senses the turmoil of his thoughts, conflicting feelings submerging her – fear, regret, wonder, _want_ – but then he lets his hand drop with a shaky exhale, his mind retreating once more.

“Doctor?” she whispers.

He doesn’t answer, but presses a hand to the small of her back, guiding her firmly towards the other side of the room. The light on her skin loses its glow as she gets further away from its twin in the tube, whose intensity decreases as well before finally separating into a multitude of swirling particles, as it was before.

“What was that?”

He lets his hand slide off her back before walking a few steps away, sighing when he finally turns back towards her.

“Do you remember when you told me about looking into the heart of the TARDIS?” he begins in a weary voice. “I said that you might have remnants of the time vortex inside you.”

“You mean this was - ?”

“I’m afraid so. I ran some scans while you were unconscious. It’s not just remnants, either. You have a _large_ amount of it inside you.”

“Alright,” she answers slowly. She raises her hands to her eyes again, thinking back to the light that danced under her skin, just a few moments ago. “But as I said, that was ages ago. So it’s not dangerous, right? I mean, I feel fine.”

“I think – it’s my belief that it was dormant in your system, until something activated it, something like the fatal weapons blast you received from the Drazfins. It awakened to save its host – to save you.”

“So without it I would be dead?” she whispers, amazed. “This is incredible! Why are you acting like this is a bad thing? It saved me!”

“Yes, I know, but there’s more to it than that. I just – it’s not an easy thing to tell you. ” He pauses, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “I think the energy has been so long in your system that your body _needs_ it now. It’s become essential to it. And you’re using it, an infinitesimal amount every second, and when you have no more of it, you… refuel, in a matter of speaking. ”

“I – what?”

“Somehow, the TARDIS knows to release some of that energy, and your body absorbs it. I think this is how we were able to meet, actually. I always thought it was too much of a coincidence. When the energy saved you from the blast, it spent itself up. You… called the TARDIS for help, and she heard you. I believe that you two are linked now.”

“I’ve been able to hear her much better since I woke up here,” Rose replies pensively. “I can understand her without the need for actual words. I can’t really explain it, it’s just… incredible.”

Rose reaches over to pat the wall and the ship hums happily. The Doctor watches her with a torn expression before looking away, shaking his head.

 

“This isn’t the only thing brought on by the energy. It changed you, Rose. It assimilated itself into every cell of your system. I’m not sure of the extent of those changes, maybe they haven’t all manifested themselves yet, but your telepathy, for example, is certainly one. No human has that ability. Your mind has transformed under the energy’s influence. I couldn’t understand it before, the first time we formed a link. Your mind was simply… amazing…”

He trails off, his words setting her heart pounding. He looks towards her again, his gaze holding hers captive, his eyes intense.

“Another example of those changes is what happened when I found you on this planet,” he continues softly. “I was so focused on Kirif holding a gun to your head that I didn’t notice the Drazfin about to shoot me. You did, though. You slowed down the flow of time around you to reach me and push me out of the way of the blast. You saved me, radiant in that same golden light as you manipulated the very strands of the universe around you.”

He speaks his last words in a whisper, the weight of his gaze making her breath catch. Every fiber of her being is telling her to take a step forward, to press a hand to his chest, to lift her face to his, and…

No. There are things she needs to know, first. She lets out a shaky breath, clearing her throat to speak. The sound breaks the spell between them, the Doctor averting his eyes, letting a hand run agitatedly through his hair again.

“But Doctor, all these things you’ve told me about… They don’t sound so bad. I mean, the energy’s not hurting me, on the contrary, if what you say is true. So I don’t… I don’t understand why you want to undo those changes, and why you thought you couldn’t tell me.”

“I still haven’t told you everything, Rose. There’s something else, something worse. But I told you, I am fairly certain that I will be able to remove the energy from your body without harming you, so don’t… don’t alarm yourself.”

“You’re alarming me _now_ , Doctor, by keeping up the suspense,” she half teases, worried despite herself. “What is it?”

She can see him clenching his fist, as though bracing himself for her reaction.

“As long… as long as the energy is inside you, you can’t die, Rose. You’ll live… forever.”

He looks towards her anxiously, but she can only stare back blankly. Her mind spins, trying, and failing, to process what he has just said.

She can’t die? The rational part of her examines this statement, and understands it very well. It makes sense, after all. If the energy is what saved her when she was hit by the weapons blast, it’s an easy jump from there to conclude that it would save her from _everything_ else, too. It’s only logical.

The emotional part of her is a tangled, chaotic mess.

He gazes at her for a moment, waiting for her reaction, but sighs as he sees her absolutely speechless.

“It took me a while to realize it, because it wasn’t immediately obvious – it would have been easier to see if you’d been injured, or sick – but eventually I noticed. Your cells are constantly regenerating, without any sign of degradation. This makes you immortal, with one exception.”

“Which is?” she forces herself to ask.

“If you run out,” he replies in a strained voice. “If you’re inside the TARDIS, you can refuel, but if you’re not, and you can’t get to her in time…”

“I die?”

He nods mutely. He is still staring at her, the intensity of his gaze making it difficult for her to sort out her feeling. She closes her eyes, takes a few deep breaths. Her heart is thundering in her chest.

She’s scared. Of course she is. Will she ever have the courage to leave the TARDIS again, knowing she could run out of energy at any time? There have been multiple times in her travels with the Doctor when she couldn’t have reached the ship at a moment’s notice, whether it was because they were captured, or lost, or knocked unconscious…

But there has to be a solution to prevent this from happening. Couldn’t they check her energy level, before leaving? Top her off, or something? Why wait until it empties out?

She realizes with a start that she is already contemplating ways to accommodate around this new particularity of hers, and she suddenly feels calmer. To fully comprehend this change in her will probably take time and reflection, but for now… she has at least accepted it.

“I’m sorry, Rose. It’s my fault,” the Doctor says wearily, interrupting her thoughts. “No matter what was happening around us, the future me and you, I should have run some tests after you took in the heart of the TARDIS. I was careless and now _you_ are the one paying the price. But I promise I will find a way to remove the energy without harming you.”

She takes a deep breath, opening her eyes to see his own closed, a pained look on his face.

“Doctor, did it ever occur to you, while you were researching how to best save me, to ask my opinion? To give me a choice?”

His eyes snap open to search hers, disbelief, hope and trepidation shining through them.

“But if I don’t remove the energy, you – you’ll have to –”

“Stay with you, in the TARDIS, forever?”

His breath catches, and he watches her take a step forward, his eyes darkening as she stops inches from him.

“You asked me once – or you will – how long I was going to stay with you,” she says, her voice surprisingly steady. “My answer is still the same, after all these year. The only thing that has changed is that now my forever can be the same as yours.”

He stares at her mutely, and she can sense a war happening inside him, desire battling out his fears. Her heart is pounding almost painfully as she waits to see which will win. Was she wrong? Does he not –

He breaches the distance between them and presses his lips to hers, and all her doubts are silenced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a quick note to let you know that the rating of this story will probably be increased for upcoming chapters. In case this makes anyone uncomfortable, this should only be for a few specific scenes for which I will give advance warning at the beginning of the chapter.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I'm so sorry I made you wait so long for this update, but here it finally is! Note the rating change of the story. There will probably be some mature scenes from here on out in some chapters, but I will always warn you at the beginning of the chapter when this is the case, for those who are not comfortable with this. For this chapter specifically, you can read safely read over half of it before the M rating is earned.

Time seems to slow down around them as the Doctor kisses her. One of his hands comes up to cup her face as he presses his lips to hers, keeping her to him as her eyes drop closed. Rose’s breath catches at the gentleness of the moment, at the feeling of his lips, tantalizingly soft, at the incredible fact that they have reached this point, after all these years. After a moment he pulls back, his lips barely parting from hers. Breathless, she opens her eyes to see him gazing at her, the mix of wonder and sorrow in his eyes taking her by surprise.

“Rose, I can’t let you sacrifice yourself like this,” he breathes out, his thumb skating over the curve of her cheek. “As much as I want what you’re offering me, you’d be giving up too much. You deserve better, so much better than me and the life I would give you.”

She shakes her head mutely before she can find her voice to answer him.

“No, you’re wrong,” she replies. It pains her to hear him speak like this, but it doesn’t surprise her. He has always thought so little of himself, the future versions of him struggling with the idea that they deserved happiness, too. She raises her hand to his, trapping it against her cheek as she continues speaking, trying with all her might to convince him of the truth of her words. “You’re the most amazing man I know. So brave and so selfless, full of passion for the universe and everyone inside it. You’ve saved countless lives without any sort of recognition, without believing you deserve anything in return, but Doctor… Youdeserve so much.”

Overwhelmed with emotion, she turns her head to kiss his palm. When she looks back towards him the intense look in his eyes sets her heart pounding almost painfully. She swallows thickly, trying to find her voice again.

“But it’s not about what you or I deserve. It’s about what we _want_. And you know what, everything you think I should have: a normal life on Earth, in a regular house, leading an ordinary, day-to-day existence… I don’t _want_ it. I want stars and new worlds and strange species. I want to make a difference in the lives of the people I meet and to discover new things along the way, about myself and about the universe. But mostly I want you. Because I _love_ you, Doctor.”

His breath catches at her words, his eyes shining with raw emotion as he looks at her. It’s the first time she’s said those words to this version of him, and they’re as true now as they were on that beach, years ago. She loves this version of him as fiercely as she’s loved the other two she’s known.

“I love you,” she repeats fervently. “I love you more than I thought was possible before I met you. So it’s no sacrifice for me to spend my life with you, it’s a blessing. But if you don’t want to spend yours with me…”

She trails off uncertainly, her earlier doubts coming back to her. Maybe this is too much to ask of him. She’s about to look away when his other hand comes up to her chin, tilting her head up as he leans in. Her eyes flutter closed as he kisses her slowly, his mouth sliding from her top to her bottom lip with a tenderness that makes her heart sing. He pulls away a few seconds later, his forehead resting on hers as he takes a shaky breath.

“I _do_ want to spend my life with you, Rose. I want you by my side, for every frenzied adventure and lazy day on the TARDIS. In fact I want it so much that it frightens me. I’ve spent centuries of my life doing my best not to get too attached to my companions only to fail and have my heart broken over and over again when they eventually all leave me, one way or another. But here you are now, offering yourself to me, offering me an eternity of companionship, of support, of _love_ , everything I’ve yearned for suddenly about to become reality and it’s… as exhilarating as it is terrifying. The universe is never this kind to me. Every instinct of self-preservation I have developed over my long life is telling me to run away from what I’m feeling for you, and I _want_ to ignore my fears, to cast them away and concentrate instead on everything good that you represent, but… it is easier said than done.”

He pulls away with a shake of his head, running a hand through his curls nervously.

“I’m sorry, I know I’m not dealing with all this very well… You probably had less trouble with that future version of me you were with. But then he was with you for so long, he had plenty of time to learn how to shed his fears and simply _be_ with you...”

She stares at him for a moment, speechless. Is he implying – does he think her and her pinstriped Doctor were… together?

Does he think she’s done this before with another version of him, and he feels pressured to live up to this unknown shadow looming over him?

What made him think this? Did she say anything to make him think…? Actually, between the Drazfins and the cage and the kidnapping, she’s never had time to explain herself to him, has she? She’s never told him why her Doctor is not with her anymore, why she’s living without him in this other universe.

She probably should do so now.

“Doctor, the future version of you and I were never together, not in the way you think. I did love him – I _do_ love him – and I think he loved me too, but we never… did anything about it. He was always an expert at hiding his feelings, but I think he was even more scared of opening up, of letting someone in, than you are right now. Maybe in time he would have gotten over it, but… We were separated before he ever could.”

His surprise at her words transforms into concern as she finishes speaking, and he looks at her with a frown.

“What do you mean, you were separated? What happened?”

“I – I’m not sure how much I should tell you. What if you remember, later on when you meet me for the first time in my timeline, and you try to change some of what happened? Shouldn’t we be careful, for the sake of our timelines?”

“Rose, I think I can say for certain that there is very little I will be able to allow myself to remember from the last few days. I will have to do a very thorough job of locking away my memories. One more story won’t make a difference now, I assure you.”

The reminder that he will inevitably have to forget her hits her so hard she has difficulty breathing for a second. She’d forgotten. She’d gotten swept away in the excitement of the adventure, in the intensity of her feelings for this new version of the Doctor, and she’d forgotten that it all had to end, that she’d have to leave him, that she couldn’t promise _him_ forever.

She doesn’t want to leave him, she realizes, her heart pounding. She wants to stay with him, as long as she can. She loves her pinstriped Doctor, of course she does, but… she’s had so little time with this velvet-frocked one.

He’s still looking at her, waiting for her answer, and she nods weakly, trying to force those painful thoughts away.

“Alright, if you say it’s safe. You know better than anyone how well you can make yourself forget.” Her voice shakes on the last word and she averts her eyes, clearing her throat before starting again. “It’s kind of a long story, but then it always is, with you,” she says with a soft smile, making him chuckle. “I think you already know I’m from the same universe as you. That’s where we met, that’s where we traveled. But one day we ended up in _this_ universe by accident. Apparently there were holes between the walls of our universes, and we fell through one of them. It was the same, only – not. I didn’t exist here, but Pete – my dad, he’s dead in our own universe – he was alive in this one. We met him.”

She pauses, pulling away from him and pacing the room as she gathers her thoughts.

“We teamed up with him to stop a Cybermen invasion, and then went our separate ways. We came back home safe and sound, everything settled, business as usual. But then… A few months later, the same Cybermen started coming through. The people from Pete’s world – that’s how we named this place– they found a way to travel to our universe to ask for our help. My mum was with us, and she saw Pete, and, well… Anyway, in the midst of all this we suddenly had Daleks on our hands as well, trying to invade _our w_ orld from the Void, and everything was a complete mess. Well, as usual, you had one of those crazy plans that just might work. You figured out a way to suck everything that had traveled between universes, and were consequently covered in Void stuff, back into the Void. But that included you and me, and the people from Pete’s world, too. _They_ could go back to their world before you put your plan in motion, and my mum wanted to go with Pete. I… I didn’t want to leave you, but in your usual method of not asking for my opinion, you tricked me into going so I wouldn’t be separated from her. She’s the only family I have, but you, you’re… Anyway, I refused to be left behind. I came back, _forced_ you to accept that I wasn’t going anywhere, and I think you finally did… But there was no time for big declarations, our enemies were closing in. We executed your plan, and as every Dalek and Cyberman was being pulled in by this powerful current and we were holding on for dear life to avoid being sucked in, too… I fell. I – I thought I was going to die. But Pete – I don’t know how he knew, I never found it in me to talk about this again – Pete came back and caught me right before I was sucked in. He transported us back to his universe and… that was it. I was trapped here, the walls were closed. We were separated. I’ve been trying to find a way back to you for years.”

A long silence greets the end of her story. Feeling as shaken as if she had just lived through the entire thing again, she leans against the wall, resting her head and closing her eyes against the images forming in her mind. His face, screaming as she falls. That white wall, solid despite her pleas and her pounding fists.

“I don’t understand,” he finally states, drawing her out of her memories. “Why can’t he come and get you? Travel between universes is not easy but certainly not impossible, not with the help of other Time Lords. _I’m_ here, after all.”

She tenses as he speaks. She’d been expecting this question, and yet she still has no clue how to answer it.

“That’s true, although in your case you’re here because _I_ called your TARDIS to me, or at least that energy within me did. I wouldn’t know how to do it again.” She looks away, unable to find a way to stall or deflect his inquiry. “You have to believe me, he just _can’t_ travel to this universe. He told me so himself, the two universes would collapse if he tried… I – I can’t tell you why. Please don’t ask me.”

She _knows_ why her Doctor can’t come to her, of course – there are no more Time Lords to help him – but she’s not about to tell him that. She has put their timelines through enough already. It’s too dangerous for him to know about the war that’s coming for him, or what its outcome is. She trusts him with her life, but she’s not sure that even he could resist trying to change the fate of his people. At the very least she can spare him the mental anguish.

He looks at her with a frown, clearly itching to press the subject, but he finally relents with a nod. He keeps staring at her for a moment longer, and she knows he is mulling over what she has just told him. She wraps her arms around herself, staring at the ground as she waits for him to talk.

Will this change how he sees her? She’s just told him how she promised his future self forever, and he knows now how terribly short of it she fell. And he just explained to her how much it hurts him when he loses a companion, how scared he is of the same thing happening to her? How can he possibly trust her with his hearts now?

“How long?”

Her head whips up towards him.

“I’m sorry?”

“From what I can understand, I’ve sent you away twice, and twice you took it upon yourself to come back to me, be it by taking in the heart of the TARDIS or by crossing universes, leaving your family behind. And what do you get in reward? You are left to fend for yourself in an unfamiliar universe, and all because of me. But instead of resenting me, you only think of me with love, you work to get back to me, you save my life _again_. How long has it been, Rose? Since you were stuck in this universe?”

He walks slowly towards her as he speaks, his voice low and vibrating with emotion, and her heart beats faster with each step he takes.

“A-About three years.”

He stops a few inches away from her, and the look in his eyes makes her breath catch in her throat.

“Rose Tyler, you are remarkable, and I am quite sure I will never truly deserve you, no matter what happens in my future. The least I can do for you now is promise to bring you back to our own universe, and to my future self. I am sure you are eager to get back to him.”

This is what she has wished for ever since she became trapped in this universe, but instead of being happy for this promise she feels almost close to tears, her heart twisting painfully at the thought of leaving him. Doesn’t he mind, too? Isn’t he sad at having to forget everything about her, at having to give her up after everything that’s happened between them?

“Thank you. I’m – ”

Her voice breaks as words fail her. She swallows thickly, trying to steel herself to accept his offer, when she notices how tense he is, behind the smooth mask of his features.

He doesn’t want her to go, either.

She takes a shaky breath, her heart pounding.

“I don’t – Of course I want to see him. I love him, I do. Just like I would love to see the first version of you I met again. But… I’ve had so little time with you. And I love _you_ , too. I can’t – I don’t think I can bear to leave you. I want to bewith you, Doctor. Eventually we’ll have to part, I know that, I can figure that out for myself, because you didn’t know me when we met and there wasn’t an immortal version of me lurking around in the TARDIS, but… Does it have to be now? Can’t I stay with you a while longer?”

She hears his breath catch as he stands staring at her for a few seconds that seem to stretch on, until he surges forward with a soft choking sound.

He presses his lips against hers, his hands coming up to tangle in her hair, and she lets out a noise of pleasure as his mouth moves over hers. There is nothing shy or tentative about the kiss this time. It is unleashed passion, uninhibited desire. It is abdicating and laying claim all at once.

“Yes. Yes, Rose, my precious girl, stay with me. I can’t give you up either, not now,” he whispers between breathless kisses.

He flicks his tongue against her lips and she lets him in with a gasp, grateful for the support of the wall behind her as he explores her mouth with an eagerness belying his previous nervousness. She meets his tongue with her own and they tangle together, drawing out a rumbling groan from him that thrills her to the core.

From that very first tentative kiss, his touch had reignited their link in a faint but constant and tantalizing presence at the edge of her consciousness. She hadn’t sought to increase it, first because the simple touch of his lips against hers had overshadowed everything else, and later because he had been so nervous already, but as he tilts his head to deepen the kiss she can sense him reaching out to her. She opens up to him without hesitation, and their minds touch in a gentle caress that’s as dizzying as his lips moving on hers. She moans in pleasure, her eyes sliding closed as her hands reach up to tangle in his curls like she’s always wanted to.

His mind is shielded, as it has been in all of their mental contacts, but as he slants his mouth over hers again and again she can feel him losing control of himself, his mental defenses crumbling down one by one. The intensity of the connection ignites a fire that slowly spreads to her entire body. To feel his mind inside her, so strong, so unrestrained, is the most alluring experience she’s ever had.

A part of her strays to thoughts of how even more intense this would feel with increased physical contact, and she is powerless to stop images flashing into her mind of the exact kind of _contact_ she would like. She feels him tense in her arms and she feels like slapping herself at her stupidity – he was nervous just _kissing_ her, he doesn’t need that kind of additional pressure– but then he lets out a strangled groan and kisses her with renewed fervor as the last of his mental shields crumble down.

She gasps under the strength of the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions suddenly pouring into her. The very essence of the Doctor is flooding her mind, raw and undiluted, and it is glorious for a moment until it becomes too much, the sheer power of his mind threatening to engulf her whole. She is vaguely aware of crying out under the strain, helpless to regain control, when suddenly the maelstrom in her head vanishes. She opens her eyes to see he has pulled away from her and taken a step back, severing their link. He stands staring at her in shock, panting harshly.

“Are you alright?” he asks in a strained voice. “I’m sorry, I lost control. I didn’t mean to overwhelm you, I –”

She holds up a hand to stop him as a wave of dizziness crashes over her. He starts reaching for her before stopping himself, torn between the desire to help her and the fear of hurting her by reigniting the link between them. She wants to reassure him but she can’t find the strength. She rests her hands on her knees, bent at the waist, and closes her eyes until the world stops spinning around her. A few moments are enough to make her feel steady again, and she looks up to see him watching her with concern.

“It’s ok, I’m alright,” she assures him with a faint smile. “It was just too much for a second, but I feel better already.”

She tries to push off the wall to reach for him but he stops her with a hand on her shoulder. Without the skin to skin contact their link is subdued almost to the point of nonexistence, barely a hint of its presence remaining on the edge of her mind.

“No, wait! You shouldn’t move, not yet.”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine now,” she answers truthfully. She tries to reach for his other hand but he retreats hastily, leaving a good width of space between them.

“Doctor?”

“I shouldn’t – I don’t want to hurt you, Rose.”

“I know you don’t. And you won’t, I promise.”

“How can you be so sure? After what just happened?”

“Because I trust you,” she answers simply, and for her it _is_ that simple. Her trust in him is an absolute constant of her universe.

She steps towards him slowly, her hand outstretched, and she is happy to see that he makes no move to back away. She lays a hand on his arm, smoothing the fabric of his coat as she strokes up and down. After a moment of hesitation she watches, breathless, as he reaches for her waist, pulling her closer to him.

“But I don’t trust myself,” he replies quietly. His thumb traces slow circles on the material of her jacket, leaving her skin tingling underneath. “Even now, in spite of what just happened, I want – All I want to do is kiss you until we both can’t breathe. All I can think about is how I want to lose myself in you, to entwine myself in your mind so fully that we can never be completely parted again.”

His grip on her tightens as he speaks, his eyes boring into her with an intensity that sets her heart pounding again. She can do nothing but stare back at him, mesmerized.

“Oh, Rose. What you do to me… it’s unfathomable. Even when I barely knew you, I could already sense your effect on me. I’ve never felt this way before. I could never truly understand other people’s desire to – to claim someone for their own, and to be claimed in return, but with you…”

Her breath hitches, heat spreading inside her at his words. She licks her suddenly dry lips and his eyes are drawn to them like magnets. He mirrors her actions and she has to suppress a moan at the sight of him, at what she’s done to him. Flushed cheeks, glistening lips, and tousled curls. He’s absolutely gorgeous.

She wants him. She wants him so much she can barely breathe.

She shifts closer to him until she can feel his breath on her face, the infinitesimal distance between them an irresistible temptation. Her hands slide around him to grasp the back of his coat, and her desire to touch the skin underneath is almost overwhelming. One of his hands leaves her waist to stroke up her back, following the curve of her spine in a way that makes her eyes flutter closed in pleasure.

“I really want to kiss you again,” she breathes out.

“I do, too,” he answers softly, his lips so close she can almost feel them moving against hers as he speaks. “But I’m so afraid I’ll lose control again. Your mind is so alluring, full of warmth and golden light. And I could feel your thoughts, your feelings for me, your arousal, and it was simply too tantalizing. I couldn’t resist it then, I don’t see how I can do it now.”

“We can keep the link between us to a minimum. Or better yet, you can block it entirely, so you won’t risk losing control. And afterwards, when we have time… we’ll practice.”

“Afterwards? After what?”

She can hear the amusement in his voice as he feigns innocence, but when she opens her eyes to look at him his own are scorching through hers, so intense she thinks she will burn if she resists for a second longer.

She doesn’t.

Breathless, she leans the fraction of an inch necessary to seal her lips over his. There is no hesitation in the Doctor’s response as his mouth moves over hers. His hand on her back slides up to cup the back of her head, supporting her as he kisses her with an intensity that makes her feel dizzy, for entirely different and better reasons this time. The link between them is dimmed, virtually nonexistent, but in that moment she can’t find it in herself to be sad about it, can’t actually spare a thought for anything other than his lips and his tongue and his hands on her.

She stumbles backwards and tugs him with her until she feels the wall at her back, leaning against it to support her quickly weakening knees. He follows her eagerly, the length of his body pinning her against the wall, and she gasps when she feels something hard press against her lower body.

_Oh_.

Oh, she’d wondered about this, when she was traveling with her other Doctors. Whether he would want her in this way, whether they would be compatible even if he did. What she senses now seems to answer the questions she hadn’t dared ask.

After years of wanting, she can’t help shifting her hips against him, desperate to feel him. Her movements make him moan, and the sound makes her lose her mind even more. She wants, she _needs_ to hear it again and again. His hands scramble for her hips as she grinds against him, slipping down to guide her movements and to squeeze her bum all at once.

She slides her arms under his open velvet coat, eager to feel his body with one less layer between them, gripping the fabric of his vest underneath and pulling him even closer to her. With something very akin to a growl he tears his mouth away from hers to trail kisses over her cheek and down her neck. He reaches the collar of her open jacket and pushes it away with his nose to nip at her collarbone before soothing it with his tongue.

“Should we – Bedroom –,” she gasps as coherently as she can manage at the moment.

"Yes, marvellous idea," he murmurs against her skin, but instead of stepping away his hands move up her sides to push her jacket off her shoulders, leaving her in the plain, utilitarian t-shirt she took from the TARDIS wardrobe a few days ago to replace her days-old mission uniform. She has a fleeting thought about her underwear – plain and utilitarian as well – and wishes she had picked something fancier before his mouth latches back onto her neck, making her lose all train of thought. Her eyes closing in pleasure, she blindly reaches up to push the velvet coat off him before fumbling to unfasten his cravat. She growls in frustration when she can’t quite get the knot undone.

He chuckles, kissing his way back up to her earlobe before nipping it gently with his teeth.

“I believe you said something about a bedroom?” he whispers in her ear, and his voice like melting honey almost makes her whimper in desire.

She eyes the door dubiously, uncertain whether she has the willpower to make it all the way there or whether her legs can even support her at this point, not mentioning the fact that they will need to find a bedroom in this maze of corridors afterwards. She scans the room, looking for better options – there’s always his desk, if they can avoid toppling over the multitude of machines on top of it – when he straightens up and swoops her in his arms.

She lets out a yelp, her hands looping around his neck in support as he quickly strides out of the room. She only has a second to register that the corridor they are in is different from the one the TARDIS guided her to before the Doctor shoulders open the first door he sees and walks inside.

The ship must be on their side because they find themselves in a large bedroom, beautifully furnished with wooden desk and dresser, a pair of comfortable-looking armchairs, a full-sized ornate mirror and a half-open door that seems to lead to a bathroom. None of that registers in Rose’s mind, however, as the Doctor sets her on the edge of the bed and immediately leans in to capture her lips again.

He kisses her with hunger, as though those few seconds spent in movement were infinitely too long. She attacks the knot of his cravat with renewed vigor, and as it comes undone between her fingers she wastes no time slipping it off his neck.

“So many layers,” she growls against his lips as she begins working on the buttons of his vest.

He hums in agreement as his hands travel up her sides, stopping just short of her breasts before moving back down to toy with the hem of her shirt. Her movements stall as his fingers slip underneath, stroking the skin of her waist in a touch that sets her skin on fire.

Her shaky fingers finally manage to get the last button of his vest open, but she makes no move to push it off. The last thing she wants is for him to remove his fingers from her skin, for his hands to stop their slow journey up her sides, bunching up her shirt as they move.

He is stroking the skin just below her breasts when he pauses and pulls away. She blinks up at him in confusion, still dazed from his kiss.

“Doctor?”

“Rose, you should know that I haven’t… done anything like this in quite a while. A long, long while. I feel like I should warn you, before you realize that I have no idea what I’m doing.”

He is clearly nervous at this declaration and she can’t help beaming up at him in return, her heart so full of love for him that she feels like she might burst. Silly, wonderful man. Does he really think she would care? How could she do anything else than love every moment of their first time together, no matter how it goes?

She pulls him back towards her, kissing him fervently until she feels his anxiety start to ebb away.

“Don’t worry,” she whispers, inches away from his mouth. “You’ve been doing wonderfully so far.”

She trails her lips down his jaw towards the long alluring column of his throat, the taste of his skin underneath her tongue flooding her senses. He makes a soft sound, somewhere between a sigh and a gasp, tilting his head to allow her better access, but the high collar of his white dress shirt stops her path. She growls in displeasure, her hands coming up to undo the first few buttons, each one revealing a toned, lean chest. She follows her fingers with her lips to kiss each new inch of skin she sees and his eyes close at the sensation, his grip tightening on the skin of her waist.

She gets the last button of his shirt undone and pushes both it and his vest off his shoulders. As much as she regrets his hands leaving her skin when he has to move his arms to let his garments drop somewhere on the floor behind him, she can’t help but deem it worthwhile as she sits back on her knees to drink in the sight of him.

She raises a hand to his chest and trails the tip of her fingers down his torso, following the lines of his muscles. His breath hitches when her fingernails scrapes against his nipple, and as much as she wants to do it again the noticeable bulge in his trousers catch her eye, making her incapable to focus on anything else.

Her other hand joins the first when she reaches the waistband of his trousers. She skims the edge, her fingers toying with the button, and while she’s enjoying the way he appears to have stopped breathing as her fingers trail ever closer, she’s far too eager to touch him to tease him for much longer. He lets out a strangled groan as she cups him through his trousers, and she feels such a rush of _want_ at feeling him in her hand that she can’t repress a small moan herself.

He feels nice and thick, and wetness quickly pools between her legs as she squeezes him, her other hand fumbling with the button of his trousers. She’s just managed to pop it open when he surprises her by suddenly surging forward to capture her lips in a messy kiss as his hands grab the hem of her t-shirt. She has to let him go and raise her arms so he can peel it off her, toss it somewhere behind him. Before she can do anything else he’s pushing on her shoulders and she end up sprawled on the bed, watching him crawl over her body and settle on top of her, elbows on either side of her head.

“I believe it’s my turn, now,” he says in a rough voice before leaning in to kiss her. It’s hard and deep and it only lasts for a few seconds before he is biting her lips and kissing down her neck and her collarbone to where the material of her bra begins. He pulls away to watch his fingers slowly slide up the straps, nipping the skin of her shoulder as he slips them off. She arches her back to help him reach for the clasp, and she’s surprised by the ease with which he snaps it open – but she shouldn’t have, really, because she’s seen him tinker, and of course he’s good with his hands – and oh God, just imagine what else those hands could do –

Her train of thought fades out of existence when he removes her bra and lets it drop on the ground, sitting back on his knees to roam his eyes over her. The silence has her almost shaking in anticipation, in nervousness, in self-consciousness, she’s not quite sure which. She wants to speak to ease the mounting tension but then his eyes travel back to hers and the words lodge in her throat.

He reaches forward, one of his hands slowly sliding up from her belly to graze the underside of her breast, his thumb following its curve, then moving up and circling the areola before finally grazing her nipple. Her breath hitches at the contact, her nipple quickly hardening into a peak. His eyes drift to her face, holding her gaze as he repeats the motion, and she can’t look away even though she’s not sure what a picture she must be: she feels flushed, her breathing ragged, her hair wild.

“Beautiful,” he whispers before bending his head to take her hardening nipple in his mouth.

She moans in surprise and in pleasure, her hand reaching up to tangle in his curls. He growls when she scrapes her nails against his scalp, grazing her nipple with his teeth in retaliation, the sensation shooting a jolt of pleasure straight to her center. One of his hands replaces his mouth as he moves his attention to her other breast, and she’s panting and writhing under him by the time he releases her with a swirl of his tongue. She tries to tug him up to kiss him but he evades her with a teasing grin, pulling away to watch his hands slide down her sides.

She raises herself on her elbows to watch as he removes her shoes and her socks before sliding his hands up her legs. He pops open the button of her jeans when he reaches the waistband, drags down the zip, and her heart is pounding as she lifts her hips to help him ease them off. He lingers at her feet, his gaze traveling over her body and settling on her simple blue cotton underwear. She feels so wet already, her knickers completely soaked, and by the look in his eyes she thinks he can see it, too.

He breathes out her name like a prayer as he trails his hands up her thighs, hooking his fingers around the band of her underwear to slowly peel it off.

She hears his breath hitch as he looks at her with darkened eyes, sees his nostrils flare as his overdeveloped senses pick up her scent. He presses a kiss just above her curls, another one to the inside of her thigh.

“Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are?” he breathes out as his eyes roam over her. He drags a finger slowly towards her center, and their groans ring out in unison as it slides easily through her folds. “How could I have ever resisted you? You’re the embodiment of warmth and light and hope. You’ve taken in a raging inferno of time and made it your own. Everything about you is intoxicating.”

She cries out in pleasure when he presses a finger inside her before pulling it out again to rub her swollen clit. She bucks against him and he splays out a hand on her hip to help keep her still before slipping his finger inside her again.

It’s been years since she’s had anyone touch her like this, and the fact that this is _the Doctor_ doing this to her amplifies every sensation and every jolt of pleasure. She’s already dangerously close to the edge by the time he slides a second finger in to join the first, and within a few pumps she’s falling apart, arching her back and moaning his name as she comes around his fingers.

She’s lost to the world for a few moments, and when she regains her senses she looks down to see him watching her with an air of wonder, his fingers twirling gentle circles through her folds.

“Rose, that was…” he trails off in awe.

“Yeah,” she agrees hoarsely.

A feeling of sated contentment overtakes her, making her smile almost lazily up at him. He beams back as he pulls his dripping fingers away and holds them up to his face, his tongue darting out to taste them with an approving hum.

She feels herself flush at the sight, the embers within her flaring back to life. She sits up to reach him but he steps off the bed, removing his shoes and tugging off his trousers and his pants before she has a chance to react.

She wants to complain that _she_ wanted to be the one to undress him, but the sight of his hardness springing free wipes everything else from her mind. He fidgets after a few seconds in which she does nothing but stare.

“Is… everything alright?”

“More than alright. Perfect,” she answers breathlessly.

She reaches forward to take him in her hand, tentatively wrapping her fingers around him. His gasp transforms quickly into a moan as she slides her hand along his length, and she feels the sound reverberate to her very core.

He looks very much like a human male, the texture of the skin a little different, perhaps, the temperature a little cooler, and so hard he feels like steel under her hand – an advantage of a binary vascular system, maybe? Are there any other perks she’s not yet aware of?– but it all makes her want to feel him inside her even more.

A drop of liquid peeks out as she twirls her hand down, and she darts forward to swipe it off with her tongue. He cries out at the feeling, his hips bucking and his knees almost giving out under him. She whimpers as the taste of him explodes on her tongue. She leans forward again and slowly twirls her tongue around the tip, and his hands scramble up to her shoulders as he moans, pushing her away after a few seconds.

“Rose, please – I want – ”

She nods, leaning on her back and tugging him down with her. He settles between her thighs, his hardness presses maddeningly against her center as he dips his head down to kiss her, and the weight of the moment suddenly impresses itself upon her. Her heart full, she smiles against his lips, and when he pulls away a solitary tear trails a path out of the corner of her eye.

“What is it? What’s the matter?” he asks with a concerned frown.

“Nothing,” she says, shaking her head. With a breathless laugh, she adds, “I’m just so happy.”

He smiles brightly back at her, and she reaches up to burrow her fingers in his hair, pulling him back down to her to press her lips against his. The motion causes her to shift, his hardness sliding against her folds and making them both break the kiss with a gasp. She moves again, her hips rocking in slow, deliberate circles, watching his brow furrow in pleasure, his mouth part open. She leans up to pull his lower lip between her teeth, eliciting a deep groan from him before he retaliates, capturing her lips in a hard, blinding kiss.

She moans and shifts under him, the friction of him sliding against her nowhere near enough to satisfy her any longer. She slides a hand down his chest to take a hold of his hardness and guides him towards her. He rests his forehead on hers, panting, as she positions him at her center, and their eyes lock as he begins pushing his hips forward.

They both moan as he slowly enters her. She’s battling to keep her eyes open and on his as she keenly feels every torturous inch of his progress within her. He stills when he is fully sheathed inside her, looking at her with such a mix of joy and adoration that she feels tears threaten to fall again.

“Rose,” he utters in a hoarse voice, before pulling back a small amount and pushing forward again. His eyes fall shut at the sensation, his face screwed up in pleasure as he repeats the motion. She’s keening under him, raising her hips to meet his, and he starts thrusting into her with a groan.

She brings his head down for a sloppy kiss as she locks her legs around his hips, and she moans in his mouth when the change of angle causes him to go deeper than she thought possible. She tears her lips away, panting his name amidst praises and pleas, and he picks up the pace, setting a powerful and unrelenting rhythm that soon has tension coiling up inside her. Each one of his thrusts sends waves of pleasure crashing upon her, and she feels herself teetering right on the edge.

Then he’s bringing a hand down her body to press fumbling circles on her throbbing clit and it’s enough to tip her over, her orgasm crashing down on her so hard her entire body is shaking and her mind is imploding in a blast of blinding white light.

He shouts above her as her internal muscles clamp down on him, and he pounds inside her a few times before he follows her over, emptying himself inside her.

He collapses on top of her and she wraps her arms around him tightly, breathing him in as she comes down from the high. She feels blissfully happy as she strokes a hand down his back, feeling his thundering double heartbeat gradually slow down to normal.

He stirs after a few seconds, pressing soft kisses to the curve of her neck before raising his head to look at her.

“That was – ” he starts to say but interrupts himself abruptly, his eyes widening in surprise. “Rose, you’re… glowing.”

“What?” She looks down at herself to see that the same golden light as before is dancing across her skin, its luminosity fading with each passing second.

“Why…?” she trails off, turning an astonished gaze back to the Doctor.

“I’m not sure.” He lifts a hand to trace the fading pattern of light on her cheek with his fingers, and despite the situation she can’t help leaning into his touch. “So far the energy within you has only activated like this when in proximity to some external source, like earlier in my lab, or when you were using it somehow.” He pauses to consider, the puzzlement on his face suddenly transforming into a teasing half-grin. “You didn’t happen to slow down time by accident while we were…”

He throws her a pointed look and she shakes her head, chuckling in amusement.

“We would have noticed, don’t you think?”

“Hmm… With what we were doing, I’m not convinced we would have.”

He smiles at her playfully and she beams back, raising her head up to press her mouth to his. He responds with a pleased hum, chasing her lips when she pulls away to kiss her in an unhurried, lingering way that has her flushing with heat again.

She does her best to shake it off and focus on the matter at hand when he finally releases her to roll off onto his back. He draws her to him with an arm around her waist and she settles over his chest, listening to the thumping of his hearts as he slowly draws a hand up and down her back.

“Well, if time _was_ slowed down, I definitely didn’t do it on purpose. I have no idea how to control the energy inside me,” she muses as she draws patterns on his torso with her fingers. “Last time, I just _knew_ I had to get to you, as fast as possible. The rest just… happened. So… why did it work then, and why did it activate now?”

“Hmm.” He is silent for a moment, gazing up at the ceiling as he contemplates the question. “I can see a few possible explanations. One is that the energy is somehow triggered by intense emotions: it provided you with the means to save me when you were desperate for it. And just now, when we…”

“Made love for the first time?” she finishes with a small smile.

His face softens and he nods, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. She has to repress the urge to shake her head at how ridiculous he is being – even now, after everything they have just said and done, the word _love_ is still a difficult thing for him to deal with.

“Yes. Well, you felt another intense emotion – albeit a more pleasant one – and the energy… well, if it didn’t slow down time, it did something else we’re unaware of.” He pauses, observing her with a small frown. “I should run some tests. Now that you have decided on _keeping_ this energy within you, it is crucial that we learn everything about it and how it functions within your system.”

“Right,” she agrees. It is inevitable, of course, but she can’t say she’s happy about going to the infirmary _now_. Nevertheless, she starts pushing herself up to get going when he tightens his grip on her.

“Just where do you think you’re going?”

Rose blinks at him in surprise.

“To… run some tests? Isn’t that what you want to do?”

He tugs her up towards him until she is completely draped over his chest, her face level with his. One of his hands settles firmly on the small of her back as he reaches up with the other to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingertips ghosting over the curve of her neck as he brings his hand back down.

“No, I don’t think I want to perform tests right now. I find our current position entirely too enjoyable to move.”

He leans up to kiss her, his mouth moving over hers with an intensity that steals her breath away. His tongue slips between her lips to tangle with hers and she moans, the heat she had managed to tamp down flaring up again. They are both flushed and panting when he finally pulls back.

“Unless of course you think it can’t wait…” he breathes out, trailing kisses down her neck before bending his head to capture a nipple in his mouth.

“Oh God, no,” she gasps, arching against him. “It can wait.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's taking me so long between updates, but here is a really _really_ long chapter to hopefully make up for it!

When he awakens, it is in a nest of warmth he has no wish to ever leave. He settles deeper into it, rather enjoying the sluggishness of his mind in its relaxed state. There is a pleasant weight across his chest and against his side, something soft that seems to generate all this lovely heat and that feels heavenly against his naked skin.

Hmm. Strange. It is not unheard of for him to sleep _au naturel_ , but certainly not common. He had forgotten it felt quite this comfortable. He should do it more often.

He takes a deep breath, his eyes cracking open, and the smell of something flowery and sweet assaults his olfactory sense, mixed in with the faint but distinctive scent of sweat and bodily fluids –

This finishes rousing him with a jolt, the events of the night before rushing back to his mind.

He gazes down at the sleeping form snuggled against his side, her head on his chest and an arm draped across his waist. His jerking awake must have disturbed her because she is shifting against him, breathing out words he can’t quite make out before she settles again. He feels the ghost of a kiss against his skin and then her breathing evens out, her features once more soft and relaxed as sleep reclaims her.

He stills, drinking in the sight of the woman lying next to him. The blankets have slipped from her shoulders during her sleep to gather at her waist and his eyes linger over her figure, admiring her beauty without the urgency of arousal of the night before.

He wasn’t lying when he told her she was gorgeous.

She’s all warmth and curves and soft skin, belying the strength he knows she possesses underneath. In the dim light her hair shines like pure gold, and a strand falling across her face makes his fingers itch in an urge to tuck it behind her ear, follow the apple of her cheek down to the elegant arc of her neck and shoulder.

The thought brings to mind the image of him doing just that, hours before. She’d been lying over him, radiant after their lovemaking, and he could feel the lingering trail of her arousal, could almost taste it in the air around her. He’d been powerless to resist it. He’d trailed his fingers down her neck before leaning up to kiss her, her answering moan in his mouth erasing every other thoughts in his head. For a while afterwards his world had narrowed down to her, to her body and her heat, to the glorious experience of watching her fall apart around him.

He exhales shakily as memories of their lovemaking flash across his mind. Her sounds, her taste, her touch, the feeling of thrusting inside her or having her ride him, it all comes back to him in vivid sensory details. He is overtaken by such a powerful wave of lust that it takes everything he has not to reach out and touch her, to roll her over and wake her up with his lips on her skin.

He closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm down and force the urge away. He struggles to do so, and maybe that fact should shock him – with the control he has over his body it should be easy for him to suppress the chemicals linked to arousal – but it doesn’t, not really. He has passed the point where he is surprised by the power this woman has over him, even when sleeping peacefully next to him.

Unwilling to disturb her rest and absolutely positive he will do so if he continues to feel her bare skin against his for much longer, he gently disentangles himself from her and slips out of the bed. Rose frowns in her sleep at the sudden emptiness next to her, her arms coming up to wrap themselves around her pillow as a substitute. The Doctor softly tugs the blanket up so that it covers her again, leans in to press a light kiss on her hair, and steps away from the bed to study his surroundings.

The bedroom in which he is standing is unfamiliar to him, although this is far from surprising considering the number of rooms the TARDIS contains. When he had stumbled out of his lab, his arms full of Rose and his thoughts scattered by arousal, he had simply begged his ship for a bed, any bed, which would serve the purpose he had in mind.

She had certainly delivered.

The room is beautiful, conveying a mix of elegance and practicality that he finds extremely pleasing. He looks around at the wooden desk, the plush armchairs, the lavish rug covering part of the floor, before his gaze is drawn back to the large bed throning on one side of the room and the woman sleeping in the middle of it, and this is where it hits him. This isn’t just any room. This is the perfect union of them both.

This is _their_ bedroom.

The realization fills him with a mix of elation and panic, and he has to lean against the wall to steady himself. He was being truthful when he told Rose how scared he was of letting himself be with her. If there is one thing he’s learned over his long life, it’s that the universe is rarely this kind to him. The thought of opening up to her only to lose her afterwards fills him with dread, even after what they’ve just done, perhaps even _more_ so now.

But maybe… Maybe if he can take things in small, simple steps forward, rather than looking into the far off and frankly frightening future, can help quell his anxiety and accept what Rose is offering him. Small, simple steps like waking up to her sleeping peacefully against him, in a bedroom of their own.

He smiles softly as he looks down at Rose, looking so much like she belongs in this bed, in this room, in hisship that it steals his breath away. Yes, this can work, if he can concentrate on the present. With her help, he thinks he might just learn to do so.

The TARDIS chimes in his head, interrupting his musings to let him know that Czif and Kirif have just entered the console room in search of him. He nods reluctantly with a sigh. He doesn’t want to leave the sanctuary of this room, doesn’t want Rose to wake up alone and wonder why he is gone, but… he has a duty to the Drazfins to finish what he has started. With any luck he’ll be back before she awakens, and she will never know he left.

\---------------

She awakes feeling happier and more relaxed than she has in years.

The coziness of the sheets against her naked skin makes her smile as she stretches lazily, her eyes closed. Her smile grows when she feels the twinge between her legs, a reminder of the amazing and completely unexpected turn that the last few hours have taken.

From their first kiss to their long-overdue talk, from his declaration that he wants her to stay with him to making love for the first time... it had all been more than she had dared hope for. She had sought him out with the intention of getting him to talk to her, hurt and confused after days of him avoiding her. There was no way she could have expected waking up naked next to him a few hours later, closer than they’d ever been before.

The only shadow in this otherwise perfect picture is her inability to withstand the intensity of their mental connection. He’d had to block out their link completely in order to avoid hurting her, and although at that time neither of them had minded its absence too much, focused as they were on the physical aspects of their newly evolved relationship, she wants to give him this, too. She knows how important telepathic connections are to him, to his species. He had confided in her once, when he had piercing blue eyes and a leather jacket, how hollow his head felt since he had lost his people. Of course, for _this_ him, the Time Lords are still alive, but it doesn’t change the fact that she wishes she could be a part of such a fundamental aspect of his life.

Well, they had agreed to practice later, when they had time, and right now her fingers itch to touch him again. Maybe she could wake him up with her lips against his skin and convince him to try again… and if not, well, she is sure they can find other activities that they will both enjoy.

She rolls over to snuggle against his side, and the empty space next to her makes her train of thoughts stutter to a stop and her eyes fly open.

He's gone.

She had been sure that he was still sleeping next to her, and the sight of the empty bed, the empty room, causes a flood of disappointment to rush through her, mixed in with a touch of panic that she does her best to repress. The thought that he could have woken up regretting what happened between them flashes through her mind – but no. She closes her eyes, remembering his touch, his lips on hers, the look in his eyes when they made love, and she feels a bit calmer.

And now that she thinks about it, she can understand his absence perfectly. He needs less sleep than she does, so he woke up first and decided to leave her so as not to disturb her rest. He’s probably somewhere tinkering with the TARDIS, or…

The ship sends her the image of the Doctor in the console room, talking with Kirif and Czif, and she almost slaps herself at her forgetfulness. In the flurry of emotions of the last few hours, she had completely forgotten about their current situation: the race against time to cure the ailing population of this world, the tenuous peace so recently established between the refugees and two of the three main factions… Of course the Doctor is with them now, helping them with their struggles, as he should be.

The TARDIS sends a questioning hum, asking Rose if she wants her to let the Doctor know she is awake, but she shakes her head with a smile.

“That’s alright. He’d want to come back here, and I’ve monopolized him enough. I’ll just clean up a bit and join them afterwards.”

She hops off the bed, looking around her with interest. They had been too caught up the night before to notice anything other than the large bed they had been lucky enough to stumble upon, but observing her surroundings now, she realizes thatluck likely has very little to do with it.

“Thanks, old girl. This room is _perfect_.” she says, trailing her hand on the smooth surface of the carved wooden desk. She can almost touch the bits and bobs that would inevitably cover it, can almost see him tinkering while she reads on the bed, the comfortable silence broken by bouts of teasing conversation until it turns into something more, her book and his latest project abandoned in favor of one another…

The TARDIS thrums warmly in her mind in acknowledgment of her thanks, and her heart fills with love as her thoughts turn to the ship, this wonderful ship that has offered her the most incredible gift. Rose is no fool, she knows nothing that is happening right now is mere luck. The energy from the heart of the TARDIS would not have lingered inside her body, secretly embedding itself inside her until the right moment came to become known, unless the ship had wanted it to be so. It is thanks to the TARDIS that she is reunited with the Doctor, thanks to her that she can be by the side of the man she loves for a forever that now matches his.

Her breath hitches as the significance of that statement suddenly hits her with full weight. Her forever now means hundreds, maybe thousands of years. It’s a terrifying number. The concept of such a long life is almost impossible for her to grasp, and she feels a bubble of anxiety rise up inside her, threatening to burst. She leans against the wall and closes her eyes, forcing herself to take deep, calming breaths. She _wants_ this, to be with him, to enjoy the good times and support him through the bad. It’s scary now, of course it is, to think of her entire life stretched out ahead of her in a long, dizzying prospect, but if she looks at it one day at a time, one adventure at a time, with him at her side… that’s not so bad at all.

She walks around the room gathering her discarded clothes, scattered all over the room by their enthusiasm in undressing each other, but she wrinkles her nose at the thought of putting them on again, all crumpled as they now are. She opens the dresser to see it already filled with clothes and underwear – some new, some she remembers having picked from the wardrobe years ago – and with an affectionate mental wave towards the ship she gathers some in her arms and heads for the bathroom for some much-needed freshening up.

She stops in the threshold, stunned by the sight. The TARDIS really went all out. Even the _bathroom_ is magnificent. She’d never found cause to complain about the ensuite attached to her old bedroom, it had suited her needs just fine, but it definitely pales in comparison to the one she is currently standing in. It is so luxurious that it is almost sinful – spacious counters, wall-size mirrors, a large shower with glass walls and multiple sprays, even a sunken bathtub in an elevated corner of the room that looks more like a small pool than anything else. She walks over it and climbs the first step to peek over the edge. She sees the many nozzles and taps, the low bench covering the entire length of the tub, and thoughts of the many uses the Doctor and her could make of it in the future flash through her head. She walks to the shower, her train of thought bringing her to evaluate its potential for similar activities, and then she notices the mirror directly opposite. They would easily be able to see themselves, if they were to…

She feels herself flush, the urge to find him and spend the next hours exploring every single one of her ideas so potent that she has to grip the edge of the counter to restrain herself. She shakes her head with a breathless laugh. What has he done to her, reducing her to such an uncontrollable mess of sexual desires. It’s like she’s sixteen all over again.

“Judging by all of this, I take it that you approve of what happened between us, then?” she teases, addressing the ship as she enters the glass stall. The sprays come on by themselves, the water at a perfect temperature being all the answer she needs. She smiles, turning to the array of products on the shelf, her heart feeling as warm as the rest of her body.

\---------------

“ _No, this is not an acceptable solution for us. Whereas our people are spread out over a large territory, nearly everyone in Trakhan lives in a large central hub. This will make it easier for their scientists to streamline the treatment process, which will result in a larger fraction of their population cured before ours. Who is to say they won’t use this advantage against us?_ ”

“ _We resent this accusation. We assure you we are of good faith, as we think our conduct so far has demonstrated. This solution_ does _appear to be the best so far. Our people shouldn’t be punished for your poor management of your territory._ ”

The Doctor runs a hand over his eyes, exasperated by the continuous bickering of the faction leaders on the monitors. He had been too optimistic before, after their first diplomatic meeting. He had thought things would be much, _much_ easier. He had forgotten the fact that these people had been at war for years. Trust did not come easy to them.

He had joined Kirif and Czif in the console room after leaving the bedroom and found the two in the middle of an argument about the best way to distribute the cure to the two factions. To prevent fruitless debate, the Doctor had suggested contacting the faction representatives with the use of the TARDIS systems, in order to ask for their opinion directly.

Over an hour later, they were still at it.

It had not been so bad at the beginning of the call. Oh, the Drazfins had been argumentative from the start, but he had been surprised by the skill with which Czif had handled them, soothing their worries and mollifying their mutual mistrust. He had already had a high opinion of the brilliant young scientist, this new hidden talent of hers increased his respect for her even more. _He_ certainly isn’t known for his diplomatic skills. He usually has very little patience for it.

Which is definitely bad luck for them, because less than a quarter of an hour after the conference call began, Czif’s assistant Mavran came panting into the console room, trying to catch his breath as he blurted out that Ariz had awoken, and that since she’d asked to be told when he did –

He didn’t have time to finish his sentence before Czif had rushed out of the ship with a hurried apology.

They’d made very little progress since then.

He tunes out the belligerent voices with a sigh. This day had started out so well, too, waking up like that with a soft and warm Rose in his arms. For the hundredth time since he left the bedroom, his thoughts turn to the woman still sleeping there. He wishes he could just walk out of the console room and go back to her. Or better yet, lock everyone out of the TARDIS and spend the next century or so holed up inside with Rose. _Then_ , maybe, he would be ready to come out and endure this torture.

“ _Well, what do_ you _think, Doctor? After all, it is thanks to your expertise that we are even having this discussion._ ”

“Not my expertise alone,” he answers in a weary voice. “Czif deserves a lot of the credit, as does Kaf, the other scientist from that mission to Earth.”

“ _Kaf? But he went back to Kraln, didn’t he?_ ”

“Yes, he did. What does that have to do with –”

He interrupts himself abruptly as he hears footsteps approaching the console room from the corridor beyond, his head whipping towards it to see Rose standing there, smiling at him. His breath hitches as he stands frozen, taking her in.

“ _Doctor?_ ”

“Excuse me for a moment,” he answers, his voice surprisingly calm despite the way his hearts are pounding in his chest. He forces himself to take steady steps towards her instead of breaking into a run like he so desperately wants to, but then her smile widens, a teasing tongue makes its appearance, and he can’t resist any longer.

He rushes the rest of the way, grabbing her hand and tugging her past a corner where no one can see them. She opens her mouth to greet him but he doesn’t give her the time to speak, pressing her against the wall and kissing her like he has wanted to do ever since he woke up. When he pulls back she is flushed and panting and absolutely gorgeous.

“Good morning,” he says, smiling almost smugly down at her, pleased to be the cause of her looking like that.

“Yeah,” she answers breathlessly, still a bit dazed from his kiss. “Yeah, it is. I missed you when I woke up, though.”

His smile turns into a wince.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to leave, believe me, but you looked so peaceful, and had I stayed longer I don’t think I could have left you alone for long, as soft and warm and intoxicating as you are.”

“Hmm,” she hums, looping her arms around his neck, her fingers playing with the curls of his hair in a way that is entirely too distracting. “You could have woken me up. I wouldn’t have minded.”

“I had half a mind to do just that. I probably would have, too, if Kirif and Czif hadn’t walked into the console room looking for me.”

“Everything alright?”

“Yes, fine,” he sighs. “They came to discuss the best approach for distribution of the cure to Zayin and Trakhan and I proposed contacting their leaders to have their opinion, something I bitterly regret suggesting now. My morning’s been a succession of bad decisions, really. I should have just stayed in bed with you.”

She chuckles, raising her head to softly kiss his cheek.

“As pleasant as that would have been, you were right to leave. We can’t ignore the Drazfin situation forever. I’ve taken up too much of your time already.”

“Rose, as far as I’m concerned, you can have _all_ of my time.”

She smiles that teasing smile up at him again and he can’t stop himself from lowering his lips to hers, chasing her tongue back into her mouth. She moans softly as she lets him in, pressing the length of her body against his, and the lust that had never quite left him since he woke up flares up again.

How is it possible that less than half a day before they had never touched like this, and yet now he can’t seem to stop?

“You should go back. They’ll be waiting for you,” she murmurs after a few moments, pulling back just enough to speak. He only groans in response as he captures her lips again, his arms tightening around her. She lets him kiss her for a few seconds longer before she pulls back again.

“Doctor,” she insists in a breathless voice. “Later, I promise, when we have all the time we want…”

He relents with a sigh, resting his forehead against hers as he pushes back the urge to drag her back to the bedroom.

“Fine, but I’ll hold you to that. Now, come on, come with me. I could certainly use your help handling these people.”

He takes her by the hand and tugs her towards the console room. As they approach it they can hear indistinct fragments of a heated discussion, and the Doctor rolls his eyes, exasperated. Still arguing, then.

“ _…the right move. You know as well as I do that there will be no peace as long as Kraln isn’t made to listen. Your utopian idea won’t get us anywhere._ ”

He slows down as they near the doorway, incredulity washing over him. This is supposed to be a meeting about peace, and yet these words sound suspiciously like they are suggesting war.

“Everyone here left their homes to get away from the war! I will not send my people to battle against their will,” Kirif cries out.

“ _Then don’t. We don’t need your people, only the cure for our own._ They _will be the ones fighting._ ”

“What is this?” the Doctor asks in a hard voice, swooping into the room with Rose on his tail. Kirif whirls towards them, looking both agitated and relieved to see him.

“Doctor, we were just discussing the Kraln situation.”

“Yes, so I heard. I must admit to some confusion, however, as to why such talk is even necessary.”

“ _Come now, Doctor, we must be realists_ ,” says the same voice he heard before. He turns to face the monitors to see the face to which it belongs: one of the Zayin delegates, which he had noticed before as particularly belligerent. He eyes him for a second, noting the hollowness of his cheeks, the general air of frailty about him. Sick, and still thinking of war. “ _We cannot simply ignore the matter. We are thankful for the immense advantage your expertise and equipment gave us, but Kirif admitted that Kraln possesses a rudimentary version of the cure, thanks to this Kaf. With every passing day we risk the chance of them perfecting it on their own and regaining their strength. If we attack now, this can all be ended much more quickly and efficiently._ ”

“Efficiently!” the Doctor spits out, outraged. “You talk about efficiently murdering innocents as calmly as if you were discussing the weather. Is this why I helped you people? Is this really what you want, to cure your men one minute just to send them off to battle the next?”

“ _Innocents! Need I remind you of the lives we lost when they hit our ship? We must retaliate, we must avenge them!”_

“And _they_ will want to avenge whatever loss you inflict them in return,” Rose exclaims, stepping besides him in front of the monitors, her jaw set as all eyes snap to her. “It’s a vicious cycle, don’t you see? It can’t go on like this if there is to be peace on your planet. I know it’s not an easy thing to do, but please, have the courage to be the ones to break that cycle, here and now.”

Her words ring out in the silence that follows. The Doctor watches her glare at the Drazfins on the monitors, defying them to challenge her, and his hearts swell with pride. He sees a few of the faction leaders nodding their heads in agreement or looking down in shame, but Rose’s gaze doesn’t flinch from the pale, sickly Drazfin who had spoken.

“ _I think –”_ he begins to say but he is cut off by Czif running inside, a small monitor in her hands.

He is cut off by a loud beeping sound coming from the console. The Doctor rushes towards it with a frown, his expression transforming into one of surprise as he examines the readings on the screen.

“We are receiving a wide-broadcast message originating from Kraln’s capital city. Here, let me…”

With the press of a few controls he brings up a video on one of the ship’s monitors, relaying the display to the two factions at the same time.

On the image is Kaf, looking more worn and tattered than the Doctor remembers him.

“ _This message is addressed to the leaders of Trakhan and Zayin. My name is Kafazn, and I speak in the name of the people of Kraln. The past few days have been a time of unrest for us. I assume you know who the alien called the Doctor is, and how he came to be involved: a team of which I was a part of met him on a mission to the planet Earth. We had as a goal the development of a cure for the disease ailing our world, using as a starting point the natural immunity of the inhabitants of that planet. The Doctor offered his help, and with this most valuable ally we were well on our way to completing our objective. But our leaders were not satisfied with this. They rewarded his help by betraying his trust, kidnapping his partner in the hopes of a military advantage. This decision has led my people to the brink of extinction. The cure was not complete nor tested when they carried out that act, and as we discovered later it was not potent enough in its current state to be suitable. Without the Doctor’s assistance we struggled to improve it while our people kept on dying, people that could have been saved without our leaders’ narrow-minded focus on war._ ”

He pauses, his face contorting with grief as he looks down, struggling to maintain his composure. The Doctor remembers Kaf telling him about his family, and his hearts clench painfully at the thought of what might have happened to them. He feels a hand grab hold of his, fingers interlocking and squeezing in comfort, and he looks down to see Rose standing next to him, her face set in an expression of sorrow mirroring his own. He squeezes back, offering her a faint, saddened smile, both turning back towards the screen when Kaf begins speaking again.

“ _Then a small group of refugees extended an offer of peace to every faction, along with the possibility of an improved and effective version of the cure, and it seemed like a gift from heaven. The offer seemed genuine, and most of us were more than ready to accept it and attend the diplomatic meeting. But not all._ ”

The camera pans to the side, revealing a group of Drazfins bound and gagged inside a prison cell. He feels a grim satisfaction when he recognizes Dzarn among them, the mission leader who had stunned and kidnapped Rose.

“ _Our so-called leaders – the people who are supposed to have our best interests at heart – decided that this was yet another opportunity for a military action and sent a small number of their dwindling supporters to attack the peace delegation in the hope of capturing the Doctor. This act of war was the final straw. There was already a growing unrest amongst the population, and this only fortified our belief that the current leaders had to be overthrown. By then we outnumbered those still loyal to them, and the uprising was swift and mostly bloodless. Our faction will no longer be ruled by aggression and fear.”_

The last words are spoken with pride and determination, and he pauses a moment as if to savor them.

“ _We are contacting you today to tell you that everyone on this planet has suffered enough, be it through countless wars or through this terrible disease. It is time to lay down our weapons as well as our differences. We must let go of the past and start building a future, for the sake of our survival, for that of our children. Of course, that means all of us must swallow our pride and our personal grievances and forgive – forgive the acts of violence committed against each other, the latest in a long line being the attack on your peaceful gathering. Even though the people responsible are already being punished for it, we ask for forgiveness for being unable to prevent it. We hope you will be able to look past it, and let our world be at peace once more._ ”

The message switches off amidst a stunned silence. The Doctor recovers first, taking a deep breath to ease the mix of relief and sorrow weighting on his hearts.

“You were right, Rose. Someone did need to break the cycle. It’s just not who we thought it would be.”

\---------------

Everything happens very quickly after that.

In an almost unanimous decision the factions leaders choose to answer Kraln’s message with an invitation to talk. The Doctor contacts them using the TARDIS and their response is almost immediate, Kaf and a few others appearing on the screen with ragged and weary but hopeful faces. The first few moments are painfully awkward, the charged history between each faction weighing on everyone’s mind – even Rose acutely feels the fat that the last time she saw the scientist, she stunned him – but eventually the awkwardness subsides and they are able to start talking about the best way to move forward.

While everyone agrees that there is much to discuss before peace can be truly achieved, they are also of one mind that the most pressing matter at hand is curing the population, regardless of faction. It is therefore decided that while the faction leaders will meet in a neutral grounds – the refugee base is quickly suggested and accepted as a location – to begin diplomatic negotiations, a small team composed of Czif, her assistant Rizi and the Doctor will travel to each faction and teach their teams of scientists how to produce and administer the cure.

Rose expects to go with them, but Kirif suggests that she stay and assist in the diplomatic meetings as an unbiased moderator, and she has to agree. She has some experience in situations like these, from her previous travels with the Doctor and her time at Torchwood, and if she can help move things along… it would be selfish of her to refuse. After that there is only time for hurried goodbyes before the Doctor leaves with his team, taking the TARDIS for faster travel, and days pass in an unending succession of peace negotiations.

She trudges back from another long meeting, tired and irritated and ready to catch a bit of well-deserved sleep. It’s not that things aren’t progressing, on the contrary. There have been a few missteps, of course, as was bound to happen when bringing people together who had been used to hating each other for decades, but overall the negotiations are going better than expected. The terrible losses suffered by everyone during the epidemic have awakened the Drazfins to the necessity of peace – with a few exceptions. There are some voices of dissension, chief among them that of the sickly Drazfin who had been arguing for war just moments before they received Kraln’s message, and they are the ones sapping all of her energy.

She is ruminating on the best way to deal with that Drazfin in a tactful but firm way at the next meeting when she passes by the door of the recovery ward and decides to stop there for a few moments to take her mind off things.

The patients who have been treated and cured of the disease were moved there a few days ago to be closely monitored, and among them was Ariz, who has become his healthy and enthusiastic self once again. Rose has been to see him often over the last few days, whenever she could find time between two endless meetings, glad to have someone to talk to that isn’t prone to quarrel with everyone else about some perceived slight in the negotiations. She enjoys his company, too, even more than she had during their brief time together on Earth – the fact that she is not a prisoner and that his people are no longer on the brink of extinction certainly helping in that regard.

Ariz’s brother Azan is with him when she enters the room, and he rises to leave despite her protests that he should stay.

“No, no, it’s alright. I’ll let you two chat. Ariz, think about what I said, ok?”

Her friend nods uncertainly, and his brother walks out of the room with a parting wave. She settles down in the chair he has just vacated, looking quizzically at the Drazfin on the bed.

“What was that about?”

“Oh, nothing…” he answers dismissively. He fidgets with his covers for a second before raising his head back towards her. “It’s just… now that the war is almost over, he is thinking of leaving the base and settle down somewhere with his family. They’ve been down here for so long, they’re eager to be on the surface again.”

“Well, that’s understandable. Will they go back to their old home?”

“They’re not sure. With the way things are shaping up, there will be less restrictions on our lives than there used to be, on what we choose to do or where we choose to live. I think they’ll want a fresh start to go along with that.”

“I’m glad for them. And you, what will you want to do? I remember how much you wanted to explore new worlds,” she says with a small laugh, thinking back to their long conversations, back in that dingy room, about her travels with the Doctor.

“Yes, I do, but… I don’t know. My brother wants with to come with them, that’s what he was telling me just now. We haven’t seen a lot of each other since the war, so it would be nice to be a family again. But then there’s also… And I can’t decide what until I know what she’s…”

He trails off, blushing as he looks down, and she immediately knows what he means.

“You can’t decide until you know what Czif wants to do?” she asks, smiling at his bashful nod.

The first time she had come to visit him, a blushing Ariz had admitted to her that upon waking up Czif and him had finally worked things out, or rather she had thrown her arms around him and his stammering brain had caught up after a while. Rose had laughed and hugged him, teasing him playfully until he reversed their position by asking her about the Doctor – Czif had clearly said something to him. They had bonded over their newfound relationship, and how much they now missed the other half of it.

“You know what would help solve your problem?” she asks, chuckling. “The same thing I told you to do before: talk to her!”

“I know,” he answers with a small laugh. “And I will, when she comes back. Which should be any day, now,” he adds in a wistful voice.

“Did you hear anything from them?”

“Only that all three of them are supposed to be back soon, bringing in some new people for a meeting with Kirif before they leave again.”

Rose nods her head with a sigh. She’d heard as much, too, unfortunately. It means more time apart from the Doctor, as there was little chance she would be included in this next trip: Kirif seemed to consider her diplomatic skills completely indispensable, now that she’d started helping.

Ariz watches her thoughtfully, his brows furrowed.

“Rose, can I tell you something?” he begins hesitatingly. “Don’t take this the wrong way, because I love having you here, but… There will _always_ be something else, you know. Something more for the Doctor and you to do, as long as you stay here. But I think… I think you’ve done more than enough already. If you want to leave… you shouldn’t feel like you can’t. You’ve shown us the way, I think we’ll be able to follow it from now on. You must be eager to go back home, to Earth.”

_Back home_.

She doesn’t correct him that the TARDIS is her home, now, the TARDIS _and_ the Doctor. Her mind is brought back to before this adventure started, back when home was an empty flat, a London in which she never truly felt like she belonged. She’ll have no problem leaving that behind.

But… back then, home was also her family. Pete, who she has come to think of as her father. Her little brother, who can be as much an angel as a terror and who she loves to bits. And her mum, who’s sacrificed so much to raise her by herself, who’s always given her everything she could, who’s always loved her with all her heart.

She’ll have to say goodbye to them.

She’s not regretting her decision to keep this energy inside her, could never regret staying with him. That choice had been made a long, _long_ time ago. And she’d known, all those years she’d been looking for a way back, that she’d have to leave them behind if she were ever successful. But knowing this in an abstract, immaterial kind of way and facing it as a hard, cold fact… it feels very different.

Her heart clenches painfully as she tries to figure out of what she will say to them, when she visits them for the last time. She’s ashamed at how little they have been in her thoughts since this whole thing started. Her more than unexpected meeting with a past Doctor, and then the adventure with the Drazfins, both of those events overshadowed everything else. But now that she takes the time to think about it, she realizes that the last thing anyone has heard of her, back on Earth, was her being pursued by unknown, armed aliens. She yelled at Mickey to get the prisoners safe, and then she just vanished.

They must be so worried.

“Rose?”

She jerks her head up and is about to say something when there is a whoosh in her mind, accompanied by the sensation of something falling back into place, something she hadn’t noticed had been missing. It feels nothing like the Doctor’s presence. It gives a sense of immensity bound in a small space, of being eternal and yet imbued with time, and suddenly she knows what it is.

The TARDIS.

She rushes to her feet under the perplexed gaze of her companion, and a second later the unmistakable whirring of the ship materializing nearby reaches their ears.

“Your ship!” Ariz exclaims, struggling to push back his covers and rise off the bed. Rose takes a hurried step towards him, stopping him from getting up with a hand on his shoulder.

“You shouldn’t. You’re not strong enough yet.”

“Then please help me – I want to…”

She nods reluctantly, not having the heart to deny him this. She lowers herself to allow him to slip an arm around her shoulders, steadying him with a hand on his back.

“Lean on me,” she instructs him, and together they start a slow walk out of the room and down the corridor, guided by their ears – and, in Rose’s case, by the feeling in her mind.

The sound of the TARDIS materializing stops before they can reach it, but Rose confidently leads her companion down a side corridor, when voices reach them from an open door a few meters away.

“Alright everyone, follow me. Kirif wanted me to bring you to him the moment we arrived. I’ll find someone to give you a tour later.”

Rizi steps out in front of them, followed by a number of wide-eyed Drazfins. She gives them a tired smile when she sees them.

“They’re still in there,” she whispers, gesturing vaguely behind her.

Rose and Ariz wait for the group to pass before stepping into the room they have just left. The TARDIS is inside, its doors half-open, and Rose’s heart jumps a bit at the sight.

_Home_.

They make their way towards the ship, Rose forcing herself to go slowly for Ariz’s sake despite her desire to run the rest of the way. She is close enough to feel the TARDIS perfectly now, thrumming a happy welcome, and with a pounding heart she finally pushes the doors open the rest of the way.

The Doctor and Czif are in the console room, bent over one of the monitors, discussing something in quiet voices. The Doctor’s head whips up as they take a first step inside the ship, a startled Czif looking up alongside him.

“Ariz! You shouldn’t be up!” she protests half-heartedly, recovering from her surprise to rush around the console and help support him. Rose lets go and steps aside once Ariz has an arm firmly across Czif’s shoulders, and his now free other arm wraps around the scientist’s waist, pulling her to him in a tight embrace.

Rose smiles at the sight for a moment before her gaze slides to the Doctor, and then all other thoughts fly out of her mind.

He is standing a few steps away, his eyes roaming her face with an intensity that makes her breath catch. She doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to this, him looking at her so openly like this, like he’s never seen the like of her before, like he’ll never tire of the sight.

She slowly walks the distance separating them, pulled towards him like a magnet, her heart accelerating with every step. She stops in front of him and reaches for his hand, feeling shy after days of absence, almost uncertain whether she is allowed. His fingers entangle with hers as he brings his other hand up to cup her cheek, and she marvels at how her heart jumps from only his touch.

“Rose…”

“Hi,” she breathes out with a chuckle, her voice shaking. Her heart fills with his presence but suddenly it’s not enough, she wants her _head_ to feel him, too, and without thinking she nudges their link open, despite all of his mental defenses that should have made it impossible for her to do so.

His eyes widen in surprise as she brushes her mind with his, this hint of a connection with him enough to make her heart sing. She is hesitant to do more, remembering his fear of losing control, but then she feels him return her touch, slowly, softly, his eyes darkening until he leans forward with a choked sound and crashes his lips to hers.

She sighs in pleasure, letting go of his hand to thread both of hers into his curls, tugging on them to encourage him as she flicks her tongue against his lips. He groans and deepens the kiss, one hand spreading across her back to pull her body to his, and she’s beginning to think that they’re rather in a too vertical position for where this is leading when a throat clearing behind her makes her jump away from him.

She had completely forgotten about Czif and Ariz, and she feels herself blushing to the roots of her hair under their amused glances. The Doctor looks around dazed for a moment before he recovers, and with an unabashed smile he reaches for her hand to tug her back to him.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Czif teases. “We’ll let you get back to it, but first we wanted to say goodbye.”

The Doctor frowns in confusion but Rose looks at Ariz, who is nodding at her encouragingly, and her mouth twists into a sad smile.

“Are you sure? It wouldn’t be a bother to stay longer…”

“No, as I told you before, you should go. Otherwise, who knows how long Kirif would have the Doctor running all over the planet while you help him out of every single diplomatic misstep,” Ariz jokes, but she sees he is as sad as she is, and she lets go of the Doctor to engulf him in a hug.

“Thank you for everything,” he whispers, and her eyes fill with tears. Behind her the Doctor has caught on, and is asking Czif whether she is certain they will be fine.

“ _Yes_ , Doctor. Ariz is right, you’ve done more than enough. You’ve held up every promise you’ve made, even the ones that seemed too outrageous to believe – who could have thought two people could singlehandedly bring peace to an entire planet?”

“It wasn’t singlehanded,” Rose sniffles as she lets go of Ariz. “You two were brilliant, really. Without you, I don’t know what…” she trails off, her voice too uneven to speak. She laughs through her tears as Czif steps forward to hug her in turn, her own eyes glistening.

“The same can be said of the two of you. I’m so glad you convinced me to help you, Rose. The thought of what would have happened if I had refused will likely haunt me for a long, long time.”

“Don’t – You have too big a heart. You could never have stood by and let your world suffer.”

“I hope you’re right,” she replies, pulling back.

“She is,” Ariz jumps in, wrapping an arm around Czif’s waist to pull her back to him. They exchange such a warm look, so clearly full of love, that Rose can’t help a happy giggle from escaping her.

“I’m so happy for you two,” she says, and her smile widens even further when she sees them both darken with a blush.

“I could say the same for you,” Czif retorts, and Rose looks back towards the Doctor, who is being uncharacteristically silent, to see him hunched over the console, frenetically typing away on one of the monitors. They all watch him as he pulls a data chip from it and steps back towards them.

“Here,” he says, handing it out to Czif. “I put a few things on here which should be helpful: ideas I meant to share about the treatment, the technical specs of some of the equipment – you can keep what we took out of the TARDIS, by the way, you need it more than I do – a few suggestions I think could improve your energy production… It’s not much, but it’s all I could think of on short notice.”

She takes the chip from his hand, looking at him with a stunned expression.

“What – You didn’t have to – This will be… invaluable, I –” She shakes her head, giving up on words and wrapping her arms around the Doctor instead.

“It’s my pleasure. Rose is right, you two _are_ brilliant. Your planet is in good hands,” he says, laying a comforting hand on both of the Drazfins’ shoulders.

They smile at him and thank them again before walking back slowly towards the doors, Czif supporting Ariz in something that looks more like a walking hug than anything else.

They are almost at the door when Rose can’t stop the question that has been burning her lips for the past few minutes.

“What about one little trip in the TARDIS with us? As a thank you?”

They stop and look at each other for a moment before turning back to Rose.

“Thanks, but I think we’ve seen enough excitement to last us for a while.”

She nods back sadly, and a moment later the two Drazfins have stepped out of the ship.

The Doctor walks forward to quietly close the doors before going back to the console, flicking a few controls as he prepares their departure.

“When you said that their planet is in good hands, you didn’t just mean in general, right? You saw something in their future, didn’t you?”

The Doctor smiles at her, extending a hand that she takes without hesitation. He pulls her to him, wrapping her in his arms as she rests her head against his chest, listening to the soothing sound of his double heartbeat.

“Hmm,” he hums noncommittally. “They’ll be great, don’t worry.”

And with a final flip of a lever he sends them away into the vortex.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait! This chapter had me really blocked for some reason, and had to go through several rewrites before I was happy enough with it to post it online. I hope it doesn't show too much!

The Doctor tightens his embrace as the ship dematerializes, sighing when he feels Rose nuzzle into him. Her warmth spreads over to him, melting all residual tension along with it, and it amazes him how having her in his arms already feels like coming home, despite the fact that he’s known her for such a short amount of time.

“Now, tell me, what –” he begins to say when the TARDIS jolts violently, sending them tumbling away from each other’s arms. He manages to steady himself with a hand on the console but Rose isn’t so lucky, falling to the floor and landing on her hands and knees. He hurries to her side when the shaking subsides a moment later.

“Are you alright?” he asks as he helps her up.

“I’m fine, thanks.” She dusts herself off quickly before looking towards the central column in concern. “Is the TARDIS ok?”

“I’m not sure,” he replies with a frown. The ship emits a weak hum of reassurance that does little to comfort him, and he moves to the console to look at the displays.

“These reading are a bit muddled,” he begins with a furrowed brow, “but I think… Yes, I’m fairly certain this is due to the energy signature that was emanating from the Drazfin’s world – it was affecting her systems so much that I had to filter the interference, but some of it must have gotten through to her. All the jumps I’ve had her make over the last few days must have taken their toll on her.”

Rose nods uncertainly, no doubt feeling the ship’s exhaustion in her mind just like he is, and he walks back towards her, trying to instill as much confidence as he can in his smile.

“Don’t worry, she’s a tough old thing. She’ll get better in no time.”

“Yeah, alright,” she replies with a weak laugh, taking hold of his outstretched hand and entwining their fingers together. “It’s just…  I’m so connected with her now that what she feels kind of… resonates inside me, so it’s – it’s hard not to worry, you know?”

“Yes, I do,” he whispers, his eyes shining – and he truly does. He is linked to the TARDIS on a deep, fundamental level, a connection that he had so far been unable to share with anyone, or that any of his companions had _truly_ understood. And now this wonderful, perfect woman is offering him this mutual understanding, amongst all the other things she was already giving him.

Unable to resist this warm feeling filling his hearts, he leans forward to press his lips to hers, revelling in their softness, and how pliable they are underneath his. His hand comes up to cup her cheek as they kiss, the moment filled with a tenderness that threatens to steal his breath away. He’s so fortunate, so incredibly blessed to have met this woman, and to now get to keep her –

Except that he won’t.

A snide voice rings out in his head, reminding him that he will have to let her go eventually, send her back to his future self in order to preserve their timelines. Sooner or later, he will have to seal away his memories of her and go on with his life, alone, until he can meet her again, maybe centuries later. And he knows he should do this sooner, rather than later, because the longer he keeps her the harder it will be.

He must have stiffened at the unpleasant turn his thoughts have taken because Rose pulls back, a puzzled frown on her face. He can tell that she is worried, and that in a moment she’ll ask him what’s wrong, but he can’t bring himself to discuss this with her, not now, not so soon. In fact, he wants to wipe the very thought of it from his mind, and so he does the only thing he can think of to achieve that goal.

He lowers his mouth to hers once more, the kiss anything but gentle this time as he snakes an arm across her waist to pull her flush against him, his other hand moving up to tangle in her hair. He takes advantage of her gasp to slide his tongue past her lips, her answering moan and the way she clutches his arm only increasing his fervour.

Rose moves backwards and he follows her blindly, too intent on the way her teeth are tugging at his lower lip to spare much attention to anything else, only noticing when she stops her ministrations to hop on the console. She smiles up at him, her lips glistening and her cheeks flushed, and she looks so gorgeous, her beauty accentuated by the soft glow of the central column, that he has to pause, drinking in the sight with a heated gaze. Rose must read something in his eyes because her smile widens and turns almost predatory, leaning forward to grab the lapels of his coat to tug him closer. He steps in between her legs, his hands settling on her waist as hers reach up to bring his head down to hers once more.

He has her pinned to the console, his lips trailing down her neck and her legs wrapped around his waist when he feels her mind reaching out to him through all of his mental barriers, and he reels back, eyes wide.

How did she just do that? She shouldn’t be able to, not by any means – actively blocking their link as he is, it should have been impossible for anyone with a lower telepathic ability to even sense the connection, let alone access it in any way. And yet –

He is suddenly reminded of feeling her presence in his mind a few minutes ago, when they had just reunited. At the moment he had thought he’d let his defences down, somehow, or that he’d initiated the contact unconsciously, but this time there’s no mistaking it. Rose has done something impossible.

He is beginning to learn that this word doesn’t seem to apply to her.

“Wha – I –” The dazed confusion on Rose’s face as she blinks up at him gives way to shock, her eyes widening as she realizes what she’s done, and she slides off the console unsteadily. “God, Doctor, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have, I know, you _told_ me we couldn’t, but I miss it, having this connection with you. I thought maybe we could try again – What? What is it?”

He must have been staring at her with an odd expression because she looks at him in worry, and he shakes his head in an attempt to recover from his surprise.

“No, that’s not it, I – Rose, what you just did, initiating a telepathic connection with me, you shouldn’t have been able to do it, not with my shields in place. So how…?”

He trails off with a puzzled frown, watching as Rose goes from startled to pensive as she considers his words.

“Well, I – I’m not sure, really. Since you came back today I’ve been feeling this sort of… echo in my mind where our connection used to be, and I guess I just – sort of reached out for it instinctively. I didn’t think too much of it, I just figured you weren’t blocking out our link as much as you used to, but… by your reaction, I’m assuming that’s not the case?”

“No, it’s not,” he answers slowly. None of this makes sense. His mental shields have not decreased in strength since the moment he put them in place, after his loss of control. So why were they working then, and not now?

“Rose, I think the best way to find out is… Everything would be much clearer if I could…” he trails off nervously, raising his hands to hover above her temples. “May I?”

Rose’s eyes widen in understanding, a flush suddenly staining her cheeks.

“Oh! Yes, of course!” she answers, her voice a little breathless, before closing her eyes.

He stands still for a moment, his hands inches from her skin, his hearts beating steadily faster. The last time he allowed himself to connect with her, he had hurt her, and he knows that if he hadn’t managed to stop himself and withdraw from her mind the damage might have been irreparable. And yet here she is, despite everything that should warn her against it, placing herself into his hands with an absolute faith he is sure he doesn’t deserve.

Her trust in him warms him and fills him with dread all at once.

He takes a shaky breath, steeling himself to resist the allure of Rose's mind, and lowers his hands along with his mental barriers. He is instantly hit by the warm, luminous sensation he is starting to crave, enveloping and welcoming him, and he tenses, half expecting his control to start slipping. The sensations assaulting him do not overpower him, however, despite the intense pleasure he feels. After a moment he begins to relax and this is when he notices it.

Something feels… different.

Rose’s mind had been something of a mystery to him, at least until he’d discovered that she had been affected by vortex energy – not only because human telepaths were unheard of, but also because he could tell her telepathy was a bit… off. It didn’t seem to harmonize with the rest of her mind in the way found in born telepaths, instead feeling almost like a separate part, added later but never fully integrated. Now, though…

Now it’s as if her mind has changed, restructuring itself in perfect unity with her newfound telepathy, and that’s not just unheard of, that’s _impossible_.

“ _Is everything alright? You’ve been silent for a while._ ”

Her voice resonates in her mind and startles him from his thoughts, and he realizes that he has been so absorbed by his discovery that whole minutes have passed without his notice.

“ _I – I don’t – I’m not sure why… Rose, I don’t really know how to explain it, but your mind seems to have… altered. I’ve never seen anything like it._ ”

“ _Altered – how?_ ”

_“The fact that you were a telepath was extraordinary in and of itself, but there were telltale signs that this was not a natural ability for you – a sort of discordance within your mind, if you will. This is no longer the case. Your whole mental structure has_ evolved _to unify with your telepathy, to become completely different to what it used to be, and yet – and yet it still feels so_ human _, so much like you._ ” He pauses, caught between wonder at what her mind has become and worry at what this transformation implies. “ _My guess is that the vortex energy has something to do with it, but I don’t see how, or why… Did anything happen while I was gone? The last time I went into your mind was a few days ago, and it was still the same, back then. It seems unbelievable that such a transformation has happened in such a short time, but on the other hand there is so much we don’t know about the energy inside of you…_ ”

“ _I – I don’t know… No, nothing happened that I can think of. I was in diplomatic meetings all the time – it was a pretty uneventful time. There was no sign of the energy, no unexplained… light… Oh! Except –_ ”

They remember it at the same time, her strange and unexplained radiance after they made love for the first time. He pulls back from her mind in a jolt, her eyes opening at the same time as his, her shocked expression no doubt a mirror to his own.

How could he have been so foolish? He berated his future self for overlooking the potential consequences of Rose taking in vortex energy, and now that he knows for a fact how much it has changed her, and how much of its effects are still unknown… He goes and does exactly the same thing.

“Rose, I’m sorry,” he says in a pained voice, running a hand down his face in dismay. “I can’t believe I’ve been this careless. You suggested running some tests when it happened but I was so intoxicated by you, I didn’t think straight. Then I got caught up in Drazfin affairs, and everything happened so quickly after that, I…”

He trails off when Rose lays a hand on his forearm, shaking her head with a wry smile.

“Don’t worry, it’s not your fault. It’s easy to get swept away in the heat of the adventure. You’re not the only one who forgot, after all – I did, too, remember? And I had even more reason to remember, since I’m the one this is happening to, after all.”

“Well, yes, but I –“

“Should know better?” Her smile widens as she closes the distance between them, looping her arms around his neck, his own going almost out of reflex to wrap around her waist. “Doctor, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my travels with you, it’s that this big Time Lord brain of yours doesn’t make you infallible. Don’t beat yourself up for every mistake you make – I love you, faults and all.”

Her voice is light and teasing, like she is used to saying these small three words to him already, but he is certainly not used to hearing them, and it does something to him – all of his breath rushing out of him, his hearts tightening almost painfully in his chest. He wants to reply – to match her teasing tone, maybe, or return the sentiment, he’s not sure – but despite the fact that he is usually so adept at talking, all the words strangle in his throat, leaving him speechless.

He’s painfully aware that he hasn't said those words back, and despite how _true_ they are, how deeply he feels them… he can’t. He’s a coward, scared of exposing himself too much, scared of being vulnerable – and it’s ridiculous, really, because he trusts her, and he’s already revealed so much of himself to her – but he just can’t.

Rose doesn’t seem to notice his internal panic, leaning up to give him a small peck on his cheek before extricating herself from his embrace.

“Now, come on, Doctor, let’s go to the infirmary and see what this is all about.”

She turns around to walk towards the corridor and he follows her, shaking his head at his cowardice, at his shortcomings, all the while his hearts are hammering inside his chest.

* * *

“I’m sorry, Rose, just a few more things to check.”

She nods from her spot on the scanner bed, sighing as she relaxes back into a lying position. He’s run a battery of tests already, and each time she’s watched him grow more pensive, engrossed in the data displayed on his screen until he emerges with a frown to declare he needs to run more scans. She doesn’t really mind – the full body scanner is surprisingly comfortable, and she hadn’t realized how tired she is – but she wishes he wouldn’t worry so much.

It’s not that she doesn’t care about what’s happening to her. Of course it’s troubling, the fact that her mind has changed so much without her even realizing it, and the fact that this might not be the last time the energy does something to her, without any warning or any way to control it. But the thing is…

The thing is, the vortex energy is a gift from the TARDIS, and she trusts the ship with her life. This thing inside her won’t harm her, she’s certain of it. After all, every single thing that has come from it since it became active has brought the Doctor and her closer – it guided the TARDIS to this universe, it gave her a lifespan as long as his, and now it has apparently improved her telepathy, right after they had experienced problems with sharing a deep mental connection.

Really, she’s not going to complain about any of this.

“Rose? Rose, I’m done with the tests.”

A hand gently shakes her shoulder, and she opens her eyes to see the Doctor looking down at her with a fondness that is not enough to hide to disquiet underneath.

She must have dozed off while he was completing his scans.

“So, what’s the verdict?” she asks, stretching her arms as she sits up.

“It’s exactly like we thought. Your mind _has_ transformed, and it’s all thanks to the vortex energy. I compared today’s scans to the ones I took before, during the time you were unconscious in the Drazfin base. The region I had identified as your telepathic center has expanded significantly since then, with new pathways linking it to every other part of your brain. Of course, I wondered if we were not simply witnessing the end result of a longer evolutionary process which could have begun when the energy first became active in your body, but then I found traces of vortex energy, all over this region of your mind, traces which weren’t there before, and this proves it. This isn’t the result a slow process; something caused this to happen a few days ago. I remember theorising that strong emotions could trigger the energy, and it seems I was right. Our intercourse was certainly intense enough.”

She lets out a small laugh as she nods, the memories of their first time flooding back in her mind, but he looks down with a frown, shaking his head as he starts pacing in front of the scanner bed.

“And now this only opens up more questions, doesn’t it? I had thought that all changes the energy was going to operate on you had already occurred during your prolonged exposure to it while it was dormant in your body and through the shock of its awakening when it first acted to save your life, but it seems I was wrong. The energy isn’t stable, and I’m not sure we have any way to predict how or when it will induce further changes, or what those will be.”

He stops in front of her, his jaw set and his eyes avoiding hers, and she realizes what he’s about to say a second before he speaks.

“Rose, maybe… Maybe you should reconsider your decision to keep the vortex energy inside of you after all. It’s just – it’s not safe.”

The fact that she knew it was coming doesn’t help soften the blow.

She grips the side of the scanner bed, a scowl on her face. She doesn’t know what she feels most right now – incredulity, hurt, or seething anger.

“You can’t be serious, Doctor. After everything that’s happened between us, you can still say something like that?”

“Well, just think about it! Your entire body has changed, and will probably keep on changing, without you having any control over it – and it’s all my fault!”

“And how is that any different from you and your regenerations? You have to live with the knowledge that someday you’ll change, become an almost completely new man, and I don’t see _you_ running away from the life you want because of it.” He stares at her in muted astonishment, and she takes advantage of his surprise to hop off the bed, stepping towards him and gripping the lapels of his coat to bring his head down to hers. “We’ve been over this, Doctor. I’m not going to leave you, and that’s final.”

She expects him to disagree, to continue arguing, and he does seem to struggle for a few moments, his brow furrowed and his expression tense, but then he takes a deep breath and she feels him relax under her fingers, as though he had won a battle over himself. He closes his eyes and lowers his forehead to hers, and despite herself she feels her anger seep out of her at his touch.

“Yes, alright. Thank you,” he whispers. “I’m sorry for being so difficult, Rose. It’s hard for me to believe you really are making that choice, despite the risks. I’m afraid you might need to remind me of it once in a while.”

“I’ll remind you as often as it takes for it to stick into that thick head of yours,” she grumbles, mollified.

“Wonderful. I’m looking forward to it.”

She makes a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a sigh, closing her eyes with a smile. A feeling of contentment settles over her at this simple contact, and a moment passes in silence before she pulls back to look at him, his eyes soft and gentle when they meet hers.

“Do you want to do more tests? I don’t mind if it can help ease your worries.”

“No, it’s alright. I have enough data for now, I think. I _do_ want to set up a few programs to analyze it, though.”

“Do you need my help with anything?”

“Thank you, but I’ll be fine. It shouldn’t take too long.”

“Okay. I think I’ll go make some tea in the meantime. I haven’t had a good cuppa in what feels like forever. Join me when you’re done?”

He nods and leans forward to press a kiss to her forehead, his lips lingering there as his hands tighten momentarily around her, reluctant to let her go, the warmth spreading through her at the unmistakable tenderness in his touch staying with her for a long time after she’s left the room.

* * *

 

He finds her in the library, lying across a large and plush couch, waves of blond hair a burst of color against the dark fabric against which her head is resting. He stops in the threshold, bemused at the sight – that couch looks nothing like the two armchairs that used to be there and of which he is particularly fond.

“Where did _this_ come from?”

She sits up with a start at the sound of his voice, her eyes a bit foggy as they first settle on him, and he takes a few steps inside, concerned.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“No, no, I was just… What did you say?”

“I asked why the two very comfortable armchairs which used to be in that exact spot have suddenly transformed into something quite different.”

Her expression clears up into a playful smile, and the affected frown on his face becomes all the more difficult to maintain.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. This couch has always been there,” she replies as she leans forward to grab one of the two mugs lying on the table in front of her, hiding her not-so-innocent countenance behind its rim. He narrows his eyes at her before shaking his head in fond exasperation.

“Fine, let’s try it out.”

He steps towards the couch with an exaggerated sigh, making Rose giggle as she scoots back and pats the cushion next to her. He sits down, shifting a few times as he pretends to search for a comfortable spot.

“Yes, not too bad, I suppose,” he begins thoughtfully. “Although… let me see…”

He wraps an arm around her shoulder to tug her unresisting form towards him. She cuddles against his side, her head resting on his shoulder, and he hums in approval.

“Ah, yes. Much better.”

She laughs, her arm snaking around his midriff to hug him tighter, and he presses a kiss to the top of her head, a smile on his lips.

“So is this how it will be from now on? You and the TARDIS doing whatever you want? I suppose I should get used to the two of you ganging up on me.”

“It’s all for your own good,” she teases.

The TARDIS hums along in confirmation, and he chuckles, reclining more comfortably on the couch. Safe and sound inside the loving protection of his ship, a warm and soft Rose in his arms, he could almost forget the worries that usually plague him.

Almost.

His fingers absentmindedly trail a path across the exposed skin of her arm and their telepathic connection reawakens, the link a mere hint of her presence in his mind through his mental shields but still enough to make him ache for more.

And they _could_ have more, he realizes. He can’t rejoice at this new discovery, at the scary and potentially dangerous implications it carries, at the unknown that they now have to live with, but no more can he claim that _this_ particular transformation is a terrible thing. He can’t help but realize the potential it carries, all the possibilities it opens up.

When he’d lost control in the heat of passion, he had let her think that with some practice she could learn to shield her mind from his, and that then he wouldn’t then have to block out their link, but he’d known – he’d known even then that he never would have let himself forge a deeper connection with her, in the fear of hurting her again.

This newly enhanced telepathy of hers could change all that. When he slipped into her mind, in the control room, he had felt like he fit in perfectly – like there was a space there made just for him. There would be no more loss of control, no more overwhelming her. With time, and training, maybe… maybe they could form a fully-fledged bond.

Provided she wants to, of course.

“Rose, would you –”

“Doctor, I was wondering if –”

They both interrupt themselves, the Doctor chuckling as he gestures for her to continue. She pushes herself up to a sitting position, turning sideways on the couch so she can look at him, and when he mirrors her pose he notices her playing with a loose thread of her shirt, as though she was nervous.

 “Well, alright, you can tell me if you don’t want to help, especially since you don’t seem thrilled by this new change in me, but… Everything feels jumbled and chaotic in my mind, right now. I hadn’t really noticed before now, because I hadn’t really been paying attention to my – my inner self, I guess. And I was been trying to make some sense of it when you walked in, but I felt a bit lost – lost in my own mind, how ridiculous that must sound! – so I was wondering if you could… maybe…”

“Oh, Rose, of course I’ll help you,” he answers, bringing a hand up to cup her cheek and raise her averted eyes to his. “I’m sorry I made you think I wouldn’t want to. I’ll always be there for you, I promise.” He waits for her to nod, and smiles warmly down at her when she does. “Now, regarding the matter at hand, it’s only understandable that your mind feels foreign at the moment – it’s just gone through a rather extreme transformation, after all. But give it some time and it should become comfortable once more. In the meantime I can help guide you through this change if you want me to - teach you about telepathy and what it implies.”

 “Yeah, I’d like that,” she agrees, relief obvious on her features. “How do we start?”

“The first step is to get you reacquainted with the structure of your mind,” he answers, shuffling closer to her until their knees touch. “You must learn to organize your thoughts and memories in order to know which parts you must shield and which can be left open. In time, and with some practice, building up mental defenses will become second nature, preventing anyone from overwhelming your mind like I did before.”

“But I don’t… Doctor, I don’t _want_ to protect myself against you,” she says with a frown, her hand moving to his thigh in emphasis. “There’s no part of myself I want to shield from you.”

“And I thank you for that sentiment, but there’s ways to achieve this more safely than what happened the last time. Rose, one day you will meet other telepaths that won’t be as well intentioned as I am, and when that time comes I won’t forgive myself if I leave you defenseless against them.”

Her mouth twists in a sad smile and she nods, squeezing his leg again. She closes her eyes as he raises his hands to her temples, and after a beat he does the same, gently slipping into her mind.

It’s as alluring as ever, but he does his best to ignore the warmth spreading through his hearts, focusing instead on her presence besides him.

“ _We will start slowly, just letting you familiarize yourself with your mind. Then, when you feel ready, you can start sorting through your memories. I can guide you through this, but most of the effort will be on your shoulders. Please let me know when you want to stop. This won’t be the work of a single session, so don’t push yourself too much._ ”

She takes a deep breath, nervous, and he leans forward to kiss her softly, without breaking the connection. He can feel her smiling against his lips when he pulls back.

“ _Alright, I’m ready._ ”

She dives head first into the task, exploring and disentangling the pieces of her mind. He helps her along at first, providing advice and encouragement when she feels lost or overwhelmed, but those moments become few and far between as her confidence grows to a degree that amazes him – she’s only been a telepath for a short amount of time, and yet she looks like she’s a natural.

She spends a long time organizing her memories, and though he does his best not to peep the glimpses he gets make him yearn for more – glances of a little girl with a thirst for adventure; of a teenager with crushed dreams; of a young woman reaching for the stars with an older, grumpier version of himself; of a grown-up Rose, very nearly the one he knows now, lost and broken-hearted in a universe that doesn’t feel right – everything he sees makes him want to know more about her, to understand through her joys and sorrows how she became the person she is now. These are her secrets to tell, however, and he will let her divulge as much or as little as she wants in her own time. With everything he himself keeps buried or unspoken, he has no right to ask for more.

He is brought out of his musings when her relentless rhythm falters before he feels her stop completely, her telepathic presence dimming until only a whisper remains.

“ _Rose!_ ”

He slips out of her mind, his hearts hammering. She slumps in his arms the moment he severs the connection, and he holds her to him with one hand as he fumbles for his sonic with the other. Her eyes are closed, her color normal, if a little pale, her breathing slow and steady, and he lets out a sigh of relief when his readings confirm his suspicions – she has simply collapsed from sheer exhaustion, not from something more sinister.

He tucks the sonic back in his pocket before brushing a stray strand of hair away from her forehead. A quick consultation of his time sense tells him that hours have passed while they were in Rose’s mind, and the discovery stuns him. It’s no wonder she fainted: she should have taken a break long before it came to this. He shakes his head, beginning to realize how determined the woman can be – sometimes to the point of stubbornness.

Just like him.

He leans over to press a kiss to her temple, mindful not to wake her, and secures her more firmly in his arms before rising. He walks out of the library and makes his way to their bedroom, setting her gently on the duvet before stepping back to observe her for a moment. She’s lovely, sleeping peacefully as she is, her blonde hair spread out like a halo on the pillow, looking so soft and inviting that he considers joining her for a nap – but no. The last think he wants is to disturb her rest. And what’s more, the analyses he set up before joining her in the library are most likely complete by now, and he really, _really_ wants to get every crumb of information he might have missed out of the data he has acquired. Sleep will have to wait.

* * *

 

His most basic tests don’t yield any information he doesn’t already know, and the more involved ones won’t be finished for a long while, so he finds himself roaming the hallways, looking for something to occupy him. His books can’t seem to hold his attention, no more can the various tinkering projects on which he sometimes spends his spare time. It’s unusual for him, this fruitless search for occupation –in general, whenever boredom threatens to rear its ugly end, he simply sets the TARDIS to some random coordinates and trusts that trouble will find him. This option isn’t open to him this time, however, not with Rose asleep in their bedroom, and it isn’t boredom that he feels, anyway – it’s a sort of restlessness that won’t leave him alone, born out of frustration at his inability to answer the many questions still plaguing him.

So when the TARDIS starts to shake and her thrums take on an anguished tone, he throws his Proust aside with more eagerness than he should probably feel in the face of his ship’s distress and rushes to the console room as fast as he can.

“What is it, old girl? What’s wrong?”

A quick check of the console readings reveals a surprising disturbance in the TARDIS’ systems – an incompatibility with the very fabric of this universe – causing her continual pain as her energy level drops slowly but steadily down. How could he miss seeing it before now?

“It’s not just the Drazfin homeworld, it’s this whole universe that’s wearing on you! And here I thought being in the Time Vortex would help you recover, while it’s only making it worse.” He sighs, running a hand through his curls as he tries to resolve on a course of action. He’s made so many bad decisions recently… “What do you think, old girl? Time to leave this universe and go back to our own?”

The ship rumbles in disagreement, directing him with a mental nudge to the materialization controls where numbers are flashing. He recognizes the spatial coordinates – they point to Rose’s flat in London, which the TARDIS brought him to after he’d stumbled upon the unconscious woman for the first time.

He blinks at the console in surprise before realization washes over him.

“Oh, of course! You’re right, Rose will want to say goodbye to her family. Silly me, I had forgotten – I’m not used to having a companion’s relatives to consider. But are you sure that you can you withstand to stay here any longer?”

The TARDIS hums insistently, and the Doctor paces in front of the console as he deliberates.

“Every jump we make drains you a little more, am I right? Then I guess if we only need to move twice – first Rose’s flat, and then to travel back to our own universe – it shouldn’t be too bad. But we need to get you out of the Time Vortex as soon as possible. It’s making things worse for you as we speak.”

 He is about to start the materialization sequence when his eyes land on the time coordinates, and he hesitates, frowning. Now, _this_ is a problem that requires more thought.

It’s been over three weeks since they met in that warehouse, or at least it has been that long for Rose – he himself skipped the few days she spent travelling to the Drazfin’s world. This means almost a month since anyone has heard of her, if he lands on Earth in linear time. He’s rarely ever brought his companions home in between adventures, so he’s never had to worry about anyone missing them before, but now – for _her_ – he doesn’t want to mess things up.

The simplest thing to do would be to just go back to the very day he meets her, and this way avoid giving her family any undue concern, but this is risky. They are both still on Earth for a few days after that, as are Czif, Ariz and the others, and he’d rather not put the timelines in danger any more than strictly necessary – to say nothing of jeopardizing the peace they brought to the Drazfin homeworld.

No, that wouldn’t do. A better idea, then, is to go back once they have left Earth – right after he and Ariz drop off the Drazfin prisoner at UNIT, for example.

Yes, that could work. It would even allow him to go and check on the man, who had still been very weak even after the treatments he’d given him. It would be best to make sure he is recovering properly. Of course, that plan means Rose will have been missing for a few days, but – well, there’s not much he can do about that. A few days of absence shouldn’t be anything to worry her family _too_ badly. It must have happened all the time, when she was travelling with his future self.

Confident in his decision, he examines the temporal settings the TARDIS has settled on. They are close enough to what he would have entered himself – only a few hours or so later. He could adjust them, of course, but…

“Are you sure about this?”

The TARDIS hums in confirmation, prodding him to proceed, and after a beat he gives in with a shrug.

“Well, you usually know best.”

He finishes the materialization sequence, concern etched on his features as the TARDIS shakes and groans upon leaving the vortex. She finally lands with a jolt, and the Doctor pats the console comfortingly.

“Thanks, old girl. Just a few hours more, and we’ll be off to our own universe.”

He glances over at the monitor, nodding in satisfaction at the image of Rose’s living room, but just as he is about to move away the door to her flat opens with a bang and stops him in his tracks.

He sees a petite blonde woman enter the apartment, a look of fury on her face as her eyes settle on the TARDIS in the corner of the room. She slams the door behind her and strides forward, stopping in front of the ship with her hands on her hips.

 “Doctor! Open up, you bloody alien git! I know you’re in there!”

He stares, frozen, as the woman scowls at the closed doors of the TARDIS. He recognizes her from the picture he’s seen, the resemblance even more blatant now that he sees her in flesh and blood.

This is Rose’s mother.

He has to fight the sudden impulse to send them back hurtling into the vortex, the knowledge that nothing good would come of running away barely enough to overcome his instinctive flight response. Instead he clears his throat, straightens his cravat and overcoat, and starts walking towards the doors of the TARDIS as though they spelled his doom.

“You have a funny sense of humour, you know that?” he grumbles at his ship, taking a deep breath and forcing a smile on his face before turning the door handle.

He only has time to see the woman’s eyes widen in surprise and settle back into an even deeper scowl before he is sent reeling back from the unexpected slap, all the while the laughing hum of the TARDIS is echoing in his mind.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note that this chapter deserves its M rating. You can safely read up to the last thousand words or so, however, if this is not your thing.

“Wh – what… _Why?_ ” he stammers, bewildered, lifting a hand to his cheek to nurse the sting of the slap.

“You know bloody well why, you wanker. You have the nerve to leave my Rose behind, to tell her you can’t ever see her again, that it’s _impossible_ for you to come back here, and yet here you are. Couldn’t have been too impossible then, could it? So what were you doing all these years while Rose was heartbroken, putting a fake smile on her face day after day?”

She advances towards him as she talks and he can’t help but take a stumbling step back inside the doors of the TARDIS.

“And if that wasn’t enough, the moment you finally come and get her you fall right back into your old habits of disappearing with her without a word! Did you even stop to think about how worried we would all be? Rose disappeared during a mission – we all thought she’d been kidnapped by the aliens, or worse! Couldn’t you even spare a moment to tell us she was alright?”

When she pauses for breath, she seems to notice her surroundings for the first time, and stares at the TARDIS interior in surprise. He supposes he changes it in the future, which is quite a shame, really, because he’s pretty fond of this one. Setting aside his future selves’ lack of taste for the time being, he uses the woman’s temporary distraction to try and get a word in edgewise.

“Well, when I found her, Rose didn’t tell me… and then we got caught up in this big mess with the Drazfins… But never mind that, how did you even know we were here, anyway?”

Her head snaps back to him, and he can tell by the expression on her face that she hadn’t been done, and that it had been a mistake to speak.

“Well, that’s another thing, isn’t it? After days of worry, we get a call from UNIT telling us about a strange man in a blue box appearing out of thin air, dropping off an unconscious man in the arms of a baffled nurse before waltzing off again without any explanation. The description didn’t match the pinstripe you, but we knew it was you, and no mistake. The moment I heard, I could tell that’s where Rose had disappeared to, swept away by you as usual, and that if you two were still on Earth this is where you would be. Seems like I was right. So tell me: what the hell were you thinking?”

She’s backed him all the way to the console when her tirade runs to an end, glaring at him as she waits for his explanation. Despite the fact that he’s in his own ship, that he’s hundreds of years older and wiser, and therefore doesn’t need to justify himself to anyone… despite all of that he’s almost rendered speechless by the petite woman in front of him.

“Look, it’s not what you think, I’m not –”

Rose walks into the console room, groggy from sleep, her hair messy and her eyes only half-open, and he freezes again.

“Doctor? I felt the TARDIS move, what’s happening? Why did we – Mum!” She stops dead in her tracks as the sight in front of her finally registers into her suddenly very much awake mind.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so glad you’re okay!” Jackie exclaims, rushing off to take her into her arms. “I’m terribly mad at you too, mind you, but that can wait. For now, I’m just happy to see my daughter again!”

“I – yeah, me too, Mum,” she replies as she returns the embrace, though her eyes search for the Doctor’s, a puzzled frown on her face. “But how come you’re here? Doctor, where _are_ we?”

“In your flat, in London.” He runs a hand through his hair, feeling rather embarrassed about the whole thing. Maybe he should have waited for her to wake up, after all. “I was wrong before, you see. It wasn’t just the Drazfin homeworld wearing on the old girl. The very _essence_ of this universe is wrong for her, and the time vortex was only making it worse. We had to land somewhere, so I decided to come here, to let you…”

_Say goodbye to your family_ is the end of his sentence, but one look at her mother, her hands still on her daughter’s shoulders as they both listen to him, makes him bite the words back. Rose seems to understand his meaning, though, a saddened look appearing in her eyes for a second before she can hide it away.

He knows it’s there, though. Today, Rose has to say goodbye to her family possibly forever, and he’s the cause. Truly, he deserved that slap.

“Alright, well, we were going to come home anyway, so I guess it’s fine,” Rose replies with a cheerfulness he knows is fake. “Next question, then – _when_ are we?”

“A few days after we met, after the Drazfins…” he trails off and clears his throat awkwardly. He’s not sure he wants to mention the fact that she was stunned and kidnapped in front of her already irate mother. “…After all of us have left for the Drazfin homeworld. Rose, I’m sorry, but we couldn’t come back sooner. It would have been too dangerous.”

He’s relieved to see her nod in understanding, and he’s reminded of the fact that she’s no novice when it comes to life aboard the TARDIS. She’s traveled with him before. She knows the risks of time travel, the dangers of crossing your own timeline.

“What’s he talking about? What would have been too dangerous? Sweetheart, is everything alright?”

Rose turns her attention back to her mother, squeezing her shoulder in reassurance before stepping out of her embrace.

“Everything’s fine, Mum, don’t worry. Here, come on, why don’t we go and sit down?”

She leads her towards the doors of the ship, pausing at the threshold to turn back towards him.

“Doctor, would you mind making a pot of tea?”

“And none of those weird alien blends, too,” Jackie demands, the glare firmly back on her face as she looks at him over her shoulder. “I want some nice old-fashioned Earl Grey. Do you think you can manage to drink something that normal?”

He nods in wary agreement, knowing better than replying that he is able to enjoy a cup of Earl Grey as much as the next Englishmen, thank you very much, and that the blend he has aboard the TARDIS is probably better than any she’s ever tried.

Rose giggles, no doubt amused by his reaction to her mother, and as they are passing out into her living room he hears her whisper: “Mum! You’re scaring him half to death!”

Her mother’s reply is too low for him to hear, but it makes Rose laugh again, and he shakes his head with a mix of exasperation and fondness. He turns towards the galley, running his hand nervously through his hair even as a small smile forms on his lips.

What has he gotten himself into?

* * *

“So he’s back, uh?”

They’ve been sitting on the couch in silence for a few moments, Rose mulling over what she should or shouldn’t reveal to her Mum when the words, spoken in an uncharacteristically low and almost expressionless voice, bring her out of her thoughts. She looks at the woman sitting next to her, her hands folded in her lap and her eyes firmly fixed on the floor, and she feels her heart clench painfully.

“Yeah,” she agrees quietly.

“And you’re leaving with him?”

“Yeah.”

Jackie nods, blinking rapidly to stop herself from crying. Rose’s mouth twists down at the sight, her eyes prickly unshed tears.

“Eh now, none of that,” her mother says with a shaky smile. “This is not a sad moment, alright? I’m happy for you, love.”

“Oh, Mum.”

She throws her arms around her mother as a few tears begin to spill out of her eyes.

“I want you to be happy, Rose, and I know you haven’t been, not since you got stuck here. So if he can make you happy, then of course you have to go. Do you think he can, though?”

“Yeah. He definitely can. He already has.”

“Good.”

She gives her a kiss on the forehead before pulling back from the hug.

“So, looks like it wasn’t that impossible for him to find a way back after all!” she exclaims in a cheerful voice, deliberately ignoring the tear tracks on both of their cheeks. “The thing I want to know, though, is what’s taken him so long?”

Rose leans back on the couch, letting out a small chuckle as she wipes her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Well, Mum, you’ll never believe me when I tell you this, but he hasn’t _really_ found a way back.”

“What do you mean?”

“This isn’t the Doctor we knew. He’s a past incarnation, before even the first leather-jacketed version of him we knew.”

“No, really?” She pauses to consider this, her eyes wide. “Blimey, that’s really something. It’s never simple with him, is it? But wait, how does he know who you are, then?”

“He didn’t, when we first met. He saw my TARDIS key and realized that I was a future companion, but that was all. We… got to know each other a bit since then, though. It’s been a few weeks for me since that Torchwood mission. We were busy helping the Drazfins find a cure for the disease that was killing off their entire population.”

Jackie nods distractedly along, the details of her adventures not as interesting to her as the complicated relationship of her daughter and the Time Lord.

“He’ll bring you back to the future him, then? The gangly one in pinstripes?”

“Um… yeah, he will,” Rose answers after a moment of hesitation. It’s not a lie, not really. He _will_ have to bring her back at some point. And she’s not sure that the extent of her relationship with _this_ Doctor is something she really wants to discuss with her mother.

“That’s a shame,” she deadpans. “He’s rather dapper, that one. Has more meat on him than the previous one, I can tell, even under all those clothes. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have him instead?”

“Mum!”

“He’d like that too, I’m telling you. He may have only known you for a few weeks, but he’s already head over heels for you, just like the other two were. I saw the way he was looking at you.”

“Mum, stop it!” she laughs, embarrassed.

“And you were looking at him the same way, don’t try to deny it! I’d have to be blind to have missed it!”

Rose lowers her head to hide her face into her hands, before mumbling something into her palms.

“What was that, love?”

“I said, I’m not denying it, alright?” she repeats as she lowers her hands, her cheeks flushed a deep crimson. Jackie smiles triumphantly at her.

The Doctor steps out of the TARDIS carrying a tray with three mugs, a saucer of milk and a cup of sugar, and Rose groans as her mother’s smirk settles on him.

“I wasn’t sure how you took your tea, so I brought milk and sugar – don’t worry, both of entirely earthly origin,” he says as he deposits the tray on the table in front of them, his last remark clearly directed at Jackie. When he straightens up his eyes flit to Rose, and he finally notices the tear tracks on her cheeks.

“Are you alright?” he asks, concerned. A glance at Jackie reveals that she has been crying, as well, and a pained look of understanding crosses his face.

“She’s fine,” Jackie replies before Rose has the time to answer. “Actually, I was just telling Rose that – ”

“Come on, Mum, the Doctor doesn’t want to hear about that,” Rose cuts off quickly. “It’s nothing, just a little chat between mother and daughter. And that reminds me, I haven’t officially introduced you yet – Doctor, this is my mum, Jackie Tyler.”

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he nods politely before raising a hand to his wounded cheek. “Although the pleasure would have been greater had it not been for that slap.”

“I’m sure you deserved it, one way or another,” Jackie retorts. “If not now, then in the future, and I won’t be there to give you one then, will I?”

He gives a sad smile in response, and Rose sighs inwardly as she sees the guilt in his eyes, the expression familiar to her by now. She knows he thinks he is to blame for taking her away from her family, and she knows it’s useless to try and convince him otherwise. This isn’t his fault, though. If anyone should feel guilty, it should be her.

A chime breaks the sudden tension in the room, and she watches her mother fish out her cell phone from her coat pocket.

“Oh, that must be Pete!” she exclaims. “I promised I’d call to let him know whether or not you were here. Hang on – Hello?”

As her mother answers the phone the Doctor fixes himself a cup of tea and settles down on the armchair in the corner of the living room. Rose tries to catch his eyes but he evades her, pretending to be engrossed in the examination of the books scattered on the table next to him. She’s not fooled, though. She’s had enough experience with his future selves avoiding something they don’t want to discuss to know he’s doing the same.

“Well, I don’t know, I didn’t ask.” Her mother’s voice snaps her attention back to her. “You should just talk to her yourself. Wait a second, I’ll put her on – Pete wants a word, darling,” she says, handing her the phone.

She grabs it and brings it up to her ear reluctantly. She’d known she’d have to deal with Torchwood sooner or later, but in all honesty, she could do without this responsibility at the moment. They’re going to have a lot of questions, and she’s not sure she knows how to answer them all.

* * *

“Ok, tell everyone I’ll be there soon – Yes – OK, I’ll ask – Sure, I’ll tell Mum – Bye.”

Rose hangs up the phone with a sigh. While Pete is happy to know that she is safe and healthy, it is very clear to her that he is not so pleased with the crisis he’s had to deal with in the past few days. A Torchwood team engaging the enemy in broad daylight during what was only supposed to be a recon mission, public sightings of an alien ship in the sky outside London, a missing hostage and a vanished agent… Then to top it all off, said hostage reappears at UNIT, of all places, carried by a strange man out of a blue box that materialized out of thin air, and which looks barely large enough to contain the both of them…

Really, Rose has no choice but to go to Torchwood and help him sort things out. It’s the least she can do, considering she’ll be leaving him in the lurch very soon afterwards.

“Mum, I have to get to the office,” she declares, turning towards her mother and handing the phone back to her. “There are a lot of things that need to be dealt with. Pete said not to wait for him tonight. He’ll most likely work until very late, too.”

“But – I thought… I thought we’d all have dinner,” Jackie answers, a disappointed frown on her face. “A family meal would be nice, since you probably won’t be here for much longer… Do you know when…?”

“No, we haven’t discussed it yet… Doctor?”

“Oh, we’re in no hurry. We can easily manage a few days, at least.” He smiles easily as he answers, but she can see the tension in his shoulders and the way his eyes flit quickly towards the ship.

“Are you sure?” she asks uneasily. “Will the TARDIS be alright? Didn’t you say – ”

“She’ll be just fine for a few days. We just have to spare her any more jumps, that’s all.”

“Alright then,” she relents after a moment of hesitation. She’s still not convinced, but it’s clear to her that she’s not going to get more out of him for now. “Well, Mum, here’s your answer. We have some time still. I’ll come and spend the day tomorrow with you and Tony, but first I need to settle everything else. I’ll see you in the morning, OK?”

Jackie nods, satisfied, and rises from the couch.

“Fine, but I’d better see you fresh and early for breakfast. And _you_ , you’re coming for dinner tomorrow evening, and no excuses” she orders, pointing a threatening finger at the Doctor. He raises his hands in surrender, and after narrowing her eyes at him she turns back to hug her daughter goodbye. “See you later, then, love. And good luck at work. Give Pete a kiss for me, alright?”

“Will do, Mum. Love you.”

Jackie walks out of the flat, and silence descends upon the room for a moment before Rose turns back to look at the Doctor. His face is a neutral mask as he watches her from his seat, but she knows what’s on his mind as plainly as if he had shouted it to her.

“Stop it. I know what you’re thinking, and you’re wrong. You’re blaming yourself for taking me away from my family, but Doctor, that’s my choice to make. I wouldn’t be happy here, without you – I _haven’t_ been happy here without you. If anyone should feel guilty for anything, it’s me.”

She closes her eyes, feeling drained at the thought of having this argument again. She’s only been awake for a short time, and the day is already wearing on her. There has been this dull pain in her head ever since she woke up, and the prospect of everything that’s awaiting her at Torchwood is not helping her feel better in the least.

His hand on her cheek startles her from her unpleasant thoughts. She hadn’t heard him approach.

“How is your head?” he asks in a gentle voice, lightly stroking her temple with his thumb. She wants to scowl at him for avoiding answering her, but finds herself unable to resist the gentleness of his touch as she leans into his hand.

“It’s been hurting ever since I woke up. But how did you know…?”

“What you did yesterday, it was bound to put some strain on your mind. It’s only natural for it to be a tad sensitive this morning. It should improve within a few hours, but I would advise against any use of telepathy for the time being, to avoid putting additional stress on your mind.”

“Okay.”

He removes his fingers from her temple to wrap his arms around her, and she buries her head in his chest with a sigh. This past day hasn’t been anything like she’d thought their reunion would go, once he returned from his mission with Czif. She had thought there would be less clothes involved, for one. Instead the moment they were alone he became concerned about her newly improved telepathy, which led to the discovery that the energy was still actively changing her, resulting in him teaching her how to get reacquainted with her transformed mind, during which training she had apparently lost consciousness. And now she wakes up to this…

She wishes they could send the TARDIS back inside the vortex and blissfully ignore the world for a while, but obviously that’s not possible, not with the TARDIS in that state. Therefore there is nothing left to do but face the music.

“I have to go,” she says reluctantly, pulling back from his embrace. “They’ll be waiting for me.”

“Yes, you said you had to go to the office. What office is this, exactly?”

“Torchwood, of course – Oh, right,” she interrupts herself when she sees the lack of understanding in his eyes. “I never told you about Torchwood, did I? It’s where I work.”

“And your boss is mad because you disappeared for a few days?”

“Well, that’s not entirely wrong,” she answers with a small laugh. At his confused look, she adds, “My boss is Pete, my parallel-universe dad. And while he’s happy that I’m alive and well, I did cause quite a bit of trouble by vanishing during a mission.”

“A mission?”

“Yeah. Torchwood is an organization that makes it its goal to protect the Earth from any unusual threat – which very often means alien in origin. It was created after the Cybermen invasion that future you and I helped stop. I told you about that, remember?” He nods thoughtfully, and she continues. “Anyway, when I got stuck here, I joined them. My team and I were investigating reports of strange disturbances when we met in that warehouse.”

“That sounds… like a very dangerous way to earn a living,” he states, frowning. Rose can’t help but giggle at his words, earning her a puzzled look.

“What, and _your_ lifestyle is so much safer?” He shakes his head with a wry smile, conceding her point, and she grins at him teasingly. “What can I say, traveling with you got me hooked on the adrenaline. Anything else just sounds incredibly dull to me, now.”

“I’ll have to keep an eye out for you then, young lady. You might get us into all kinds of trouble.”

“Like you don’t go looking for it on your own,” she retorts, and he chuckles in response.

Rose beams at him, her heart feeling much lighter than it was a few minutes ago. _Us_ , he’s said. She knows it’s not accidental – it’s an admission that he’s heard her words earlier and that he’s accepted them. He won’t leave her behind.

She bounces up to him and leans forward to give him a quick kiss, but he catches her by the elbow before she can retreat, lowering his head to capture her lips with an intensity that has her melting against him in an instant. She’s breathless when she finally forces herself to break away.

“I really do have to go,” she pleads, feeling a mounting frustration at having to restrain herself once more from just pinning him against a wall and having her way with him. “Pete called a meeting with all the higher-ups to give me a chance to clear up what happened with the Drazfins and to announce my resignation at the same time.”

She is surprised by the twinge of sadness she feels at the thought. For a long time, Torchwood had simply been a means to an end, a way to help her find her way home and occupy her time, but if she’s honest with herself she’s grown to quite like the place.

“Anyway,” she continues, shaking off the unhappy thought, “Pete asked if you could come too, to have a look at the man we rescued from the Drazfins. UNIT just transferred him over to Torchwood’s infirmary ward. He seems to be doing okay, but they’d like you to make sure, just in case. Do you mind?”

He glances towards the TARDIS for a moment, seeming to hesitate before giving in with a small shrug.

“Very well. There’s not much else for me to do in the meantime, anyway.”

“Great!” She fishes her keys out of a small bowl by the front door, holding them up for him to see. “Let’s go! I’ll show you how much better I am at driving than you are!”

He lets out an exaggerated gasp, advancing towards her with a falsely menacing air, and she laughs as she dashes out of the door.

* * *

The moment they arrive at Torchwood they are surrounded by a crowd. The entire office is buzzing with the news of her reappearance, rumors flying high about what has happened to her in the last few days and how it is linked to the strange man besides her, the same man, according to anonymous sources, who had walked out of that box inside UNIT.

“Ah, Rose, there you are!”

Pete’s voice cuts through the buzz of voices in the hall, and the throng parts to let him pass. He does a double-take when he first sees the Doctor.

“Blimey, is that him?” he asks her. At Rose’s nod he drops his voice, conscious of all the curious ears around them. “Jackie _did_ say he’d changed, but… seeing is believing, I guess. Doctor, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” he adds in a louder voice, extending his hand for a handshake. “I’m Pete Tyler, Torchwood’s director and Rose’s dad. Thank you for agreeing to come here and assist us.”

“Not a problem at all. I’m happy to be of help.”

“Good, good. Clarkson!” he calls out, and a small man steps out from behind him. “Clarkson here will take care of you until we’re done with our meeting. It might take quite a while.”

“Hello, Doctor. Nice to meet you, I’m sure,” Clarkson drones out in a monotone voice. “After me if you please, I will take you to the infirmary.”

He starts heading off without further ado, and the Doctor barely has time to cast Rose a parting glance before he has to follow, or risk losing sight of the diminutive man in such a large crowd. She watches his retreating back for a moment longer before forcing herself to turn back to Pete, waiting beside her.

“Right, let’s go and get this over with.”

He nods and leads the way back towards the elevators, a path opening again in front of him. He looks at the workers loitering around with a frown.

“Show’s over, people. Don’t you have something better to do? Lang, Rita, we’re meeting in five minutes, don’t let me catch you being late.”

The crowd disperses in a hurry at his words, and Rose steps into the elevator after him.

The floor numbers light up in quick succession as they rise through the tall building, the silence between them growing steadily more uncomfortable.

“Look, Pete, I’m sorry about –”

“Not now, Rose. We’ll talk after the meeting,” he cuts her off. She hangs her head down with a nod, and a second later the doors open with a ding.

There are already a few people milling about the hallway in front of the conference room, and they all turn to look as Pete and Rose step out into the corridor. She forces herself not to fidget as all eyes seem to focus on her, keeping her back straight and walking directly into the room instead. She scans the crowd as people begin to trickle in and take their seats around the table, looking for the members of her own team.

“Where are Mickey, Jake and Ben?” she whispers to Pete once every place at the table has been filled.

“Out of town. They left yesterday, following a lead that they thought could point us in your direction. We’ve contacted them, they’re on their way back. They should be there by tomorrow.”

She nods, feeling a pang of guilt at the thought of her teammates worrying about her while she was off having a good time with the Doctor – or, well, as close to it as it gets, with him.

“Alright, if everyone is here, let’s get started.” Pete’s voice rings out in the room, quieting the low buzz of conversations. “As you all know, we are here regarding the situation that began a few days ago, when the team led by Rose Tyler and comprised of herself, Mickey Smith, Jake Simmonds and Ben Evans, went to investigate reports of disturbances in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city…”

* * *

Rose shares goodbyes with the people starting to trickle out of the room, trying to keep the smile on her face despite the headache that has been slowly worsening as the day went on, instead of improving as the Doctor had assured her it would. The crowd slowly trickles down to only a few stragglers staying behind for a quick word with Pete, others reconvening for islands of conversation in the hallway.

This had been a _long_ meeting.

“Please, we’ll finalize the details of the transition tomorrow. For now, go home – the rest will do every one of us here some good,” Pete says.

The agents to whom this is directed nod respectfully at the director and gather their belongings before walking away. One of them stops next to Rose on her way out.

“Rose, it was an honour working with you. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we’re all sad to see you go, although we wish you well in your new life. You’ll have time for one last pub night this Friday before you leave? “

“I’ll see what I can do. Thanks, Althea. I’ll miss you.”

Althea, the leader of Torchwood Operative Team Two and the one nominated to take over Rose’s position, leans over for a quick hug before stepping out of the room, leaving her alone with Pete.

As the door clicks shut he lets out a drawn-out sigh, and when she turns towards him he is sitting with his elbows on the table, his head resting in his palms.

“Well, that could have gone worse,” she says after a few seconds. He lowers his hands and nods without meeting her eyes, busying himself in gathering the papers in front of him. She watches him for a moment, uncertain of what to say, before clearing her throat uneasily.

“Will you need anything else from me tomorrow? It’s just that I told Mum I’d spend the day with her…”

“You’re really leaving, then.”

It’s not a question but an affirmation, spoken in a low, carefully even voice. Rose swallows the sudden lump in her throat.

“I am.”

He rises from his seat and walks to the window. It’s well past midnight, and beyond the tense line of his back she can see the glow of the sleeping city fading into the darkness of the sky, broken here and there by the wandering light of a few zeppelins.

“Your mum and I, we always knew you were trying to get back to him. And we wanted you to be happy, so of course we were wishing you’d succeed, but at the same time… We’ll miss you so much, Rose. And I can’t even begin to think how we’ll tell Tony that his big sister, his hero, is leaving for good. “

Rose looks down, tears prickling at the corner of her eyes. She knows that. Of course she does. If only there was a way…

“I want you to know, though, that I’m so proud of you. I probably have no right to be, because I know I didn’t have a part in making you… _you_ , but I am. I’m sure you’re aware that when Torchwood hired you, and later when you were promoted, a lot of people thought it was because you were my daughter, but I hope you know, Rose, how wrong they are. You deserved all of it. You’re clever, you’re warm and you’re compassionate, and yet you have resolve, you have strength. Even though all that time had passed, and you had to live with a broken heart, day after day, you didn’t lose faith. There were darker moments, of course, but you didn’t give up. You gave some of that drive to everyone around you, even though you never realized it. I’m glad your confidence was rewarded. You deserve everything, Rose. You deserve to be happy.”

A sob escapes her as she raises her head again. Pete has turned around and is facing her, his eyes red and a sad smile on his face. Rose feels something crumbling down inside of her at the sight, and she rushes forward to throw her arms around him.

“I love you, Dad,” she whispers, her head on his shoulder while he gently pats her back. ”You’ve done so much, for me and Mum. You took us in, you gave us a home –”

“And you two gave me a family, when I’d given up on ever having one again,” he cuts her off, his voice thick with emotion. “And you’ll always be a part of it, no matter how far away you are.”

He pulls back, and she can see tears glistening on his cheeks. Her own tears finally spill over, her voice too strangled to reply.

He takes a deep breath and gives her a tight smile, his hand squeezing her shoulder gently.

“Now, go and find your Doctor. I told Clarkson to take him to the Archives when they were done in the infirmary – I thought that might help occupy him for a while. Go be with him. I’ll see you tomorrow at dinner.”

She wipes her cheeks and nods, leaning forward to kiss his cheek before walking softly out of the office. The hallway is empty once more, a fact for which she is thankful – no matter how much she tries to stop the tears keep on coming, and she doesn’t want to have to explain them to anyone.

She gets into the elevator and presses the button for the lowest floor, resting her head on the wall as the doors close. There’s a heaviness in her chest, a weight that’s making her want to curl into a ball on the floor. This whole day has been one giant heartbreak, and it’s not that she’s regretting her decision, of course not, but saying goodbye to everyone she loves is, without a doubt, the hardest thing she’s had to do so far in her life.

* * *

The Doctor turns the communicator from Trezhin around in his hands, examining it idly. Still in good condition, although without the radioactive energy source only found on that particular planet, it’s pretty much useless as it is now.

He sets it back on the shelf and strolls further down the aisle. Despite their limited amount of resources, he’s quite impressed by the quantity of alien articles Torchwood has managed to collect. Of course, from what he’s been able to gather, the people here don’t know what the good majority of the items in their possession actually _do_ , much less how to use them, but still… impressive nonetheless.

He sighs, pausing in his survey to look back towards the Archives door, guarded by two agents. He’s been here for hours now, and still no sign of Rose ever since they parted in the lobby. He’s been itching to go look for her himself, but something tells him the guards wouldn’t take so kindly to a stranger roaming the halls despite their kind, welcoming attitude. Clarkson wasn’t assigned to him simply to guide him through the facility – he is also keeping an eye on him. Doesn’t Pete trust him, then?

A Szashan flash bomb on a lower shelf catches his attention, and he crouches down to examine it. With just a quick look he can tell that it’s unstable, ready to burst at any time. He throws a furtive glance around to make sure no one is watching him before taking out his sonic to disarm and disable the device for good.

…Impressive _and_ dangerous. It’s a wonder this place hasn’t blown up yet. He can’t help but be glad that he’s taking Rose away from here – though of course traveling with him isn’t the safest way of life, either, as she had so judiciously pointed out earlier.

He sighs softly before standing up, looking around at the shelves filling the Archives warehouse. There are a few people scattered around the room, some examining various items while others sit poring over documents at the large table in the middle of the room. That man Clarkson is there at the moment, furiously scribbling down on a piece of paper, no doubt writing down the information he’s given him earlier about an alien piece of equipment that Torchwood just couldn’t figure out and which is apparently crucial to one of their cases.

Their visit to the infirmary had been a remarkably quick one. The man he had rescued from the Drazfins was recovering perfectly well, apart from a slight fever from the effects of his body’s withdrawal to the alien drugs in his system. He had given the nurse a few recommendations, and that had been it. After a quick call Clarkson had taken him to the Archives – _just for a quick look around while you wait for Agent Tyler to be done with her meeting_ , he’d said.

How long can a meeting _be_ , he wonders.

He sighs again as he runs a hand through his curls. Hopefully everything’s alright with Rose. He knows she was already feeling blue before leaving her flat earlier, and the rest of the day can’t have helped her mood. It’s easy to imagine how difficult it must be for her, leaving her whole life behind – and for what?

Can he really make up for that much loss?

The doors opening on the far side of the room catches his attention, and he looks up to see Rose coming through, stopping to greet the guards there. A few people hurry over to her side, and he observes her exchange a few words with them, giving a hug or a handshake here and there. She smiles and laughs, seemingly perfectly cheerful, but…

She’s not. He can tell. Something’s wrong with her – her smile is not wide enough, her laughter too subdued, her stance too rigid. It’s all wrong.

He takes a step forward, and she finally turns her eyes in his direction. She politely excuses herself from the people still surrounding her and crosses the room towards him, her stride meant to look relaxed but he can see the tension in her body as she walks. All the eyes in the room are on them as she stops in front of him.

“Doctor, President Tyler has asked me to thank you for your help today. I am charged with the task of bringing you home.”

Her voice is loud and clear, her tone formal, no doubt for the sake of everyone else in hearing range, but as he looks into her eyes he can tell – she’s been crying. It’s obvious she has tried to cover it up, however, so he refrains from comment, simply nodding in acknowledgement before following her out of the room.

He speaks the moment the doors close on them.

“Rose, are you – ”

“Not here, please. Later.”

“Alright.”

She leads him outside to the parking lot where they left her car earlier in the day. It’s the middle of the night already, but the city is still teeming with life, making the silence around them feel heavy.

It’s starting to make him nervous, to tell the truth. Has she changed her mind? Of course he knows what she told him earlier, when she insisted she couldn’t be happy without him, but maybe this has proved too much after all. Is this why she’s been crying, why she wants to wait until they’re in her apartment to talk? Is she going to tell him that she can’t leave her family behind, and that she’s staying here, after all?

That would probably be better for her. To live a normal, human life with her family. But somewhere along the way he must have turned selfish, because he _doesn’t want her to_.

He can’t leave her behind anymore.

He fidgets all the way back to her flat, swallowing nervously as he closes the door behind him and sees her standing still, her back silhouetted by the faint light coming through the curtains.

“Rose, what – ”

He stops when she abruptly turns and surges towards him, making him back against the door as her arms lock around his neck. She buries her face into his chest and his arms wrap around her automatically, his breath catching at the feel of her clutching to him.

“What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” she whispers, her voice shaky. “It’s just… today’s been tough. Saying goodbye to so many people, and talking to my mum and – and dad… I always knew it was going to be hard, but… Can you – can you just hold me, for a while?”

He lets out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding as relief floods inside him. He presses his nose into her hair and closes his eyes. She hasn’t changed her mind. He gets to keep her.

“Yes, of course. Whatever you want.”

She’s tense in his arms but he runs his hands in soothing patterns up and down her back, and eventually he feels her relax under his touch. Her breathing softens, synchronizes with the back and forth of his hands. She raises her head by a fraction, her lips ghosting against the skin of his neck, and his fingers dig into her back uncontrollably when he feels her breath over his pulse point. She gasps, pressing herself closer to him, her lips more firm against his skin and suddenly he feels very warm, his hearts pounding in his chest.

She begins trailing kisses up his neck, her fingers unlocking from their hold to sink into his hair. He slips his hands down to grip her hips, barely able to restrain himself from dipping his hands just a bit lower and…

He pulls a fraction of a centimeter away, the most distance he is able to withstand.

“Rose, are you sure? It’s just – you’re sad, maybe it’s better if –”

“I’m sure,” she interrupts him, leaning forward to bite gently on the skin of his throat. He can feel her grin against his neck as he groans. “I want you to remind me of what’s on the other side of these goodbyes. Can you think of any way to do that?”

He answers by lowering his head to capture her lips and she opens up for him immediately, his groan echoing hers when their tongues meet. Her breath comes out in pants as their mouths part and meet again, and it’s wet and inelegant and _just right_.

He wants her. He’s wanted her ever since he woke up with her naked in his bed, after their first night together. Back then he never would have thought they’d have to wait _that long_ to be together again. If he had, he probably wouldn’t have left the room, or at least not for a good few hours more.

She backs away to what he assumes is her bedroom, her fingers fumbling blindly at his coat buttons as he refuses to release her mouth. Her back thumps against a closed door and it is his turn to press himself against her, both of them moaning as she shifts her hips against him.

He feels around for the door handle and manages to find it just as she is pushing his coat off his shoulders. He lowers his arms to let it drop to the floor, and she uses that moment to twirl away from him, stepping inside the room and stripping off her shirt in one fluid movement.

He pauses, momentarily stunned by the vision of her breasts enclosed in purple lace, and she grins, visibly pleased with his reaction. He takes a step towards her and she takes a step back, her smile turning teasing.

“You have too many clothes on. I remember how long it took to get all those layers off before. So take your shirt, first.”

His hands immediately fly up to his neck and make short work of his cravat before starting on the buttons of his vest. She isright, he _does_ wear too many clothes. He is seriously starting to consider a toga as his future outfit. Much quicker access, and there’s even no real need for underwear. He wonders if he could pull off the look.

He finally manages to unbutton both his shirt and his vest, and she eyes him appreciatively as he pushes them off his shoulders. He stands transfixed as she reaches behind her back and unhooks her bra before letting it drop to the floor. He wants to protest – he should be the one to undress her – but he can’t find it in himself to complain against a course of action that lets him see the wonder that are her breasts free of any restraints.

His hands twitch with the need to touch her but she is still giving him that teasing smile and he knows he’s not allowed to, not yet. She nods towards his trousers and he wastes no time in popping open the button and lowering his zipper, sighing at the relief from the pressure that was quickly becoming painful. He stares at her, waiting for her to mimic him like before, but she only shakes her head playfully.

“Your shoes, first.”

He hops on one foot, then the other, the laces giving him more trouble than they ever have before. He should probably start going barefoot, as well. It would match the toga, anyway.

When his trousers finally hit the floor Rose is sitting on the bed, her shoes gone, and he looks at her, entranced, as she shimmies out of her jeans. Matching purple lace underwear, no doubt chosen with him in mind, and suddenly he can’t wait any longer.

He reaches her in two quick strides, burying his fingers in her hair and his tongue in her mouth before she has even time to react. She gasps and then moans as he kisses her relentlessly, like a man that’s been starved for the longest time – and he _has_. The past few minutes without her lips might well have been an eternity.

One of his hands slide down from her hair to her neck and then her chest, stopping to palm her breast and flick at her nipple before continuing its journey downwards. His fingers skim the edge of her underwear, and she wrenches her mouth from his to take a gasping breath when one digit strokes over her center through the fabric.

His other hand joins the first to peel her underwear away, and he gently pushes her down on the bed before pulling back to look at her. There’s something he wants to try, something he read a long time ago and that he remembered when she used her tongue on him, the last time. He sinks to his knees and shuffles forward between her legs, putting a hand on her thigh to stop her when she tries to close them reflexively.

“What – what are you doing?”

Her voice is thick with lust and it shoots straight to his groin, but he forces himself to ignore the surge of desire that rushes through him. He wants to investigate this thoroughly first.

“Reminding you,” he replies before leaning forward, his nose grazing her center.

He’s had a taste of her before, when he’d licked his fingers after pleasuring her, but this… this doesn’t compare. All of his senses are filled with her – he can smell her desire, see her glistening wetness, feel the slight tremble of her muscles in anticipation, hear her shuddering breaths. The only thing missing is –

He lays the flat of his tongue against her folds, and his groan mixes with her keening cry. The _taste_ of her. It outshines all of his other senses. She bucks against him and he grabs her hips to steady her before delving in again.

He listens to her responsive moans as he licks and sucks, focusing on what she seems to enjoy the most. Her hand clenches compulsively in his hair and he can tell that she is getting close, but still not close enough. He lets go of one of her hips to stroke two fingers against her folds before slipping them inside her, and he is rewarded by a litany of incoherent praise, urging him on. He pumps a few times, flicking his tongue at her bundle of nerves in rhythm with his fingers. Her whole body tenses, almost there but not quite, until he sucks her clit into his mouth, hooking his fingers inside her at the same time, and she comes crashing apart with a shout.

He slows his movements to let her come down gently before pulling away almost reluctantly. He stands up to see her flushed and panting hard, an arm thrown over her eyes, her hair a tousled halo around her, and he doesn’t think she’s ever been more gorgeous than this.

She removes her arm from her face to look at him, her eyes travelling down to the noticeable bulge straining against his pants. He obeys her unspoken order as he pushes them down and kicks them away.

“I’d return the favor,” she says, staring at him with raw hunger, “but I’m selfish. I want you inside me.”

“No arguments from me.”

She shuffles backwards on the bed and he climbs on after her, his knees on either side of her thighs. He crawls up her body with lips and hands, stopping to suck a rosy nipple into his mouth. She tugs on his hair, impatient, and after a last twirl of his tongue he complies, smirking down at her as he does so. She growls and reaches up to seal her mouth over his, kissing him with an urgency that wipes the smug look off his face.

She snakes a leg around his knee and pulls, bringing his lower body down. He groans as his hardness hits her center, so wet and so ready for him, as he can tell from first-hand experience. He slows down their kiss, trying to stop himself from just plunging inside her like he wants to, but then she’s trailing her hands down his back and squeezing his bum in encouragement, and he doesn’t know how he can resist much longer.

“Doctor, please,” she whimpers, and his control slips completely.

He positions himself at her entrance and pushes forward just as she raises her hips. He slides inside her incredibly easily, and even though they’ve done this before he’s blown away by just how _perfect_ she feels around him.

He leans down to catch her lips in a messy kiss as he begins to move, the way her hips shift under him denying him the slow rhythm he wants to establish. Instead she bites his lower lip as she meets him thrust for thrust, panting his name amidst breathless moans, and he can’t help but lose himself completely in her. He thinks he might be babbling, in any number of languages, and maybe he’s swearing, or maybe he’s praising her, or it’s possible he’s just saying her name, over and over again. He has no idea, and it’s not important anyway. The only thing of importance is that she’s tensing under him again, her rhythm becoming wild and erratic, and he steadies her with his hands on her hips to allow himself to thrust even harder, to bury himself inside her as deep as he can. She arches her back under him, her lips opening in a silent cry, and then she is falling apart around him and taking him with her, helpless.

Minutes, or maybe hours later, he slips out of her and rolls over to her side. His mind is blissfully blank as she turns to wrap herself around him, clutching him to her as though scared he is going to disappear.

She shouldn’t be, he thinks, hazily – he’d be more than happy to stay exactly where he is for the rest of his life.


End file.
